


The Nature of Love

by Reading5



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Abusive Parents, Action & Romance, F/M, Fantasy, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2020-11-09 07:47:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 62
Words: 63,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20849966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reading5/pseuds/Reading5
Summary: When Sienna uncharacteristically loses the most important fight of her life she is humiliated, expelled by the guild master of Sabertooth and loses her best friend Sting. Years later when she comes across Sting just before the Grand Magic Games, things take an unexpected turn.





	1. Weird magic

It was the year X777. A blond, blue eyed boy was crying by himself when he heard a soft female voice say from behind him, “Are you all right? Sorry, stupid question. Of course you’re not. What’s wrong?”  
He turned around and saw a girl, about the same age as him, looking at him worriedly. She forest green hair, light green eyes and was wearing a dress. He looked away. “I ... where am I?”  
“Huh?” she knelt by beside him. “We’re in Fiore. What’s wrong? Don’t you remember anything?”  
He bit the inside of his lip. He couldn’t just tell this stranger what he had been through moments earlier, could he? But she seemed so genuinely kind and sincere. And if she tried to deceive him in any kind of way, he knew he could easily take her down. “I-I lost my father.”  
She sucked in a breath. “I’m sorry to hear that. Definitely at such a young age. What about your mother?”  
“I don’t remember having one.”  
She frowned. _Left by his mother and now he’s lost his father. And I thought I was having a terrible childhood._ She tentatively put her hand on his back and rubbed it. “I know I’ll never be able to look after you the way your father did, but with me here, at least you’ll know that you’re not alone. By the way if you were wondering I’m Sienna.”  
“Sting.”  
She smiled at him. “It’s a pleasure meeting you, Sting.”

Later that day they revealed to each other that they were in fact Mages – and both a special sort, nonetheless. Apparently Sienna had the ability to create anything plant like, she tended to use the earth in the ground but could still create things with just her bare hands, and Sting was a Dragon Slayer – someone trained by an actual dragon who had inherited their powers through fierce training. Though calling him the White Dragon Slayer would be more accurate considering that was the magic that he had inherited from his foster father Weisslogia. When he revealed this to Sienna something resembling awe crossed her face, but also sadness considering she had noticed how much the dragon had meant to him.  
“Um ... tell me if I’m overstepping, but how did he actually ... you know?” she asked in a small voice.  
He looked away. “I killed him.”  
She gasped at him in shock. “But-but...”  
“I didn’t want to, but he told me to.” Tears started welling up in his eyes. “He said it would make me stronger. And I’m sure it did, but I hate that I had to do that.”  
Sienna pulled her legs close to her body. “I understand, I think.”  
He looked at her. For someone her age, she looked so ... thin, underfed even. He had had the luck of a loving father figure, but what about her? “What about your parents?”  
She lifted her head and looked at him. “What about them? If you’re wondering whether they’re alive, probably.”  
“No. I mean ... what’s your relationship with them like?” he asked cautiously.  
The light in her eyes seemed to dim slightly. “Bad, unloving, that kinda thing.”  
He looked on in horror. “Why?”  
She shrugged. “’Cause I have this magic that nobody else nearby seems to have. They couldn’t believe I was their daughter, so I ran away.”  
The way she spoke about it so casually, made Sting look at her in wonder but a part of him also wanted to beat those people to a pulp. Because how dare they think that his new friend was unwanted, undeserving of love because of her magic. While in reality it was something magnificent. Not strong and all powerful like his Dragon Slayer Magic, but interesting and creative of the likes he had never seen before. Though he guessed that in the end it wasn’t that bad that she had decided to run away, considering that now she was by his side. “I’m sorry,” he finally said.  
She smiled kindly at him. “You don’t have to be sorry about anything, Sting. It was my choice and you know, I kinda like it here. Here I’m free in this vast world filled with the beauty known as nature.”  
“Yeah,” he agreed with a smile.  
“So actually, what do you eat? I sometimes make something with my magic when I don’t feel like stealing anything, though I guess we might have to do it now.”  
He shrugged. “Anything white.”  
Amusement flickered in her eyes along with a smile. “Literally anything white? So, let’s say,” she started amassing magic in her hand and suddenly a white flower appeared in it, “you’ll eat this?”  
He snatched the flower out of her hand, said, “Sure,” and shoved it in his mouth. “Told you, anything white.”  
She smiled at him in disbelief. “Ok. Fine. You win. You’re magic’s much weirder than mine if you can eat flowers and don’t feel weird about it.”  
He swallowed the flower remnants. “Yeah. But you can create that and more, which is also pretty weird,” he countered with a smile.  
“So, a thing that we’ll have to find out is; who has the weirdest magic.”  
He smiled at her and a light danced in his eyes. “Yes. Which means that until we find that out, you’re not allowed to leave my side.”


	2. Wish for strength

As time went on, Sienna started to realise how truly strong her friend was. He could take anyone down with no problems. She looked at her hand. _Maybe I can also be like that._ “Hey, Sting,” she said unsurely.  
“Yeah.”  
“Can I try my magic out on you?”  
“What? Want me to eat more flowers?”  
She shook her head with a slight amused smile. “No. I meant, I wanna try fighting against you.”  
He looked at her in utter confusion. “Why?”  
“So, I can become strong like you. And maybe one day … we could join a guild together.”  
“Guess. But you don’t have to, I’ll always be there to protect you.”  
She sighed and sat down. “Do you really want me to rely on you that much?”  
“Uh…” He honestly didn’t know. He just wanted to protect her. She was his friend, so it only felt natural to want to protect her, right? Especially since he was stronger than most, if not all other Mages out there. He looked down. “Guess not.”  
“Ok. So, can you help me get stronger?”  
He nodded. “Yeah. I’ll help you.”


	3. True friendship

As time went on, Sienna was becoming better at using her powers to fight. The tightness of the vines was always impressive in Sting’s eyes. He could easily break out of them. But that didn’t negate the fact that his friend was controlling vines out of all things and wrapping them oh so tightly around him. The fact that she could also use big thorns to attack was also something else.  
As he was sitting on the ground, he couldn’t help but look forward to one day joining a guild alongside her. A strong one of course. He couldn’t explain why exactly, it just made the most sense in his mind. He was smiling at the thought when Sienna’s face appeared close to his.  
“What’s up?”  
He broadly smiled up at her. “We’ll join a strong guild someday.”  
She smiled softly. “Yeah. Looking forward to that. Once this training is over, we’ll join a guild.”  
“Yeah.” He looked down in thought before he stood up. He wrapped his arms around her and said, “You’re doing great, Sienna. I’m really proud of you.”  
Her body froze at the sensation of the unexpected hug. It was actually nice. She had honestly never expected it to be this nice.  
When Sting noticed that Sienna wasn’t hugging back and had frozen up, he let go of her. He tentatively looked at her. “Um… Sienna, what’s wrong?” He hoped that he hadn’t by accidentally upset her.  
She crossed her arms unsurely in front of herself. “I-I don’t remember … the last time someone hugged me.”  
Shock combined with hurt entered his eyes. The more he heard about her parents, the more he wanted to find them and make them pay. What kind of sicko wouldn’t hug their kid? He forced himself to calm down. “Ok. So, you know you can hug me whenever you want … if you want. I don’t mind. I mean … hugs are nice and stuff, comforting as well sometimes, so if you’re upset or something you can hug me.”  
There was a mixture of happiness and fondness in her eyes as she looked at him. She unsurely stepped closer to him and opened her arms. She would have to wrap them around him. She did so carefully; feeling like this was some deadly operation.  
Sting hugged her in return.  
“It … does feel comforting,” Sienna said in a small voice.  
He smiled. “Yeah. Kinda letting you know that I’m here for you and stuff.”  
She let out a small chuckle. “From where do you have that?”  
“Thought of it myself. Do you like it?”  
She nodded. “Yeah. Very much.” She looked away shyly. “I like it that you’re here for me, Sting.”  
He smiled down at her reassuringly. “’Course. You’re my best friend, Sienna. Nothing’s gonna change that.”  
She tried to blink away the tears as she was averting her gaze to the ground. “Same here,” she said in a small voice.


	4. Disapproval

A few years later after Sting took some people down, they were approached by an Exceed – a cat capable of flying and speech – called Lector who was in awe of his power and wanted to become his disciple. Sting, unused to the fact that someone other than his best friend wasn’t scared of him, accepted the offer. From then on, the three became best friends.  
During their travels through Fiore, Lector at some point bragged to some people that his best friend had killed his own parent, a dragon. This caused the people to make fun of him and Lector in turn to cry. To comfort him Sting said that even though the dragons were dead, there was still someone who could be considered strong enough to face him: a Mage known as Salamander. Sting would find him and defeat him and then people would be assured of his strength.  
Later during that night, while Lector was asleep, Sienna said, “Are you really going to keep it up?”  
Sting huffed, knowing what she was referring to. “Yes. I still did it.”  
“Yes. But, Sting, you felt bad about it. Now you’re prancing around making it seem like it’s the best thing you’ve accomplished and you’re proud of it.”  
He gave her an irritated look, mainly because she was right. “That doesn’t matter. Not everyone deserves to know it.”  
“Maybe not, but Lector-”  
“Lector doesn’t need to know. It would confuse him too much.”  
She sighed and looked at the sky. “If you’re sure. It’s your choice after all. Just know that he probably won’t think any less of you. I most definitely don’t,” she said, looking him in the eyes. “Goodnight,” she said and lay down facing away from him, quickly falling asleep.  
“Goodnight.”


	5. Sabertooth

Years later they joined the guild Sabertooth. The guild put a lot of importance of its members’ strength – or its master Jiemma did at least, along with his daughter Minerva, who was considered the strongest member after her father. Around the same time another Dragon Slayer, Rogue Cheney, also joined the guild. His powers were almost opposite to Sting’s, considering they controlled the shadows. But nonetheless they got along great and became partners, now known as the Twin Dragon Slayers or Twin Dragons of Sabertooth.  
This also gave Sienna the chance to go on solo jobs, which even though he never admitted it to her face, really worried Sting. So, at some point he decided to follow her. She was walking calmly ahead but suddenly stopped. He smelled around for any adversaries, but soon enough realised that she had stopped because of him when he felt a vine twirling around his leg. It yanked him into the air, along with another one for his partner in crime, Lector. He decided not to fight it and let her have her fun for now.  
She walked up over to him with a grin. “So, what brings you here, Sting?”  
He could feel the blood racing to his head. And he knew that it wasn’t only because he was hanging upside down. “I was just in the neighbourhood.”  
“Yeah. That’s right. We decided to go for a walk,” Lector backed him up.  
“That’s quite a coincidence indeed. So, you’re not out for any other reason?”  
He shook his head, making him regret it seconds later. “No. Just walking. I noticed you and decided I could just as well keep an eye on you.” Technically not entirely a lie.  
She shook her head in indignation, though the smile remained. “I can take care of myself, you know.”  
“I do. I just...” He sighed and decided he had enough of hanging upside down. He cut through the vine with his magic and landed on his feet. “I don’t want any harm to come to you.”  
“Geez, Sting, you make me sound like some damsel in distress. I don’t need your protection. Really. I appreciate it. But I don’t need it. That’s why I go on jobs _alone_. And what do you think? That some people will try and rob me or something?”  
He snarled and looked her straight in the eyes. “I’m sure you know what I think.” Definitely since now she was eating enough, making her grow in all the right places.  
“Well whoever tries will have a thorn in them before they know it.”  
He took a step closer to her and towered over her, trying to make her see how dangerous men could be. He hated it. The more years passed, the more she was starting to look like a woman. And he was sure that other men would notice as well. How could he make her see? How could he make her possibly see what she was so unwilling to? That in a couple of years, he knew, she would probably be one of the most beautiful women in all of Fiore. The most beautiful in his eyes. He looked down. Maybe if she experienced true fear, she would understand his. “Fine.” Then he turned around and started walking away after freeing his other friend.  
Lector looked at him unsurely and said, “Sting?”  
He stopped and punched a tree to get rid of the frustration, resulting in the birds fleeing for their lives. “She is so stupid. Why can’t she see that I only want what’s best for her?”  
“Maybe because she also wants that.”  
“Huh?” he said, looking down at his friend.  
“She might think that if you spend too much time worrying about her, you might not spend enough on yourself.”  
“Well her time is my time. She is still my best friend.”  
The Exceed sighed. “Sure, Sting.”

So, Sienna went to her job and completed it without any problems. Afterward she had a rest in a nearby motel and started walking back the next morning. On her way home she noticed someone familiar. “Lady Minerva? What brings you here?” Though she didn’t especially think that Minerva deserved the title of ‘lady’; she used it out of fear of angering the latter or even her father.  
She smiled at her. “You. Our master isn’t very happy with you.”  
She took a step back. “Why? What have I done to anger him?”  
Her right hand glowed with magic while she smiled at her fellow guild member sinisterly. “You are still very weak, Sienna. So, he has sent me over to make you stronger.”  
Sienna knew how strong her newest opponent was and that winning against her was near impossible, so she decided that the best course of action would be to drop everything and run. Which she did, along with creating walls of vines behind her. She could hear cackling behind her, along with, “These vines won’t stop me.” Then she felt a blow to her back, which sent her flying to the floor. She quickly, through the pain, turned around to face Minerva. This wasn’t good. This so was not good. But she had to fight. Had to show Sting that she wasn’t weak, only so he would stop worrying so much. She concentrated on her magic and released spell after spell, hoping that at least one would be strong enough to stop her opponent from obliterating her.

Sting was casually looking through any potential jobs he could do when he suddenly looked around in panic. He sniffed again to be sure. “Oh no.” He could smell a combination of two things he had hoped to never smell together. Blood. A lot of blood. And Sienna.  
“Sting, what’s wrong?”  
He started running towards the exit to the guild, ignoring his friend. _Please be alive. Please be alive,_ he thought while fighting back his tears. Lector appeared next to him asking him again about why he was looking so fearful. His only response was, “Sienna.”  
This also sent fear into the Exceed’s eyes. “I-I can fly you.”  
Now they were by the guild’s doors. Sting looked at his friend and then at himself. “Ok. I’ll give you directions.”  
He let his friend carry him towards where he could sense the pungent smell of Sienna’s blood coming from. And there was so much, making him beg silently even more as his other best friend carried him. “Here,” he finally said.  
Lector descended into the wooded area.  
Of course, it was the woods. It always had to be the woods. It was where he had first met her and now... No. He couldn’t think this way. She was strong. She had told him so many times and he knew it to be true. This was not the end for her no matter what his nose told him. He landed on the ground and sprinted towards her and paled considerably.  
She was still breathing; raggedly. And she was so covered in blood he could barely make out her features – the features he loved so much. But he had to stay calm. He knew that he had to stay calm even though the tears were so freely streaming down his face. Then he heard his name. And again. It was coming out of her like a prayer.  
He knelt down beside her. He wasn't sure of where to touch out of fear that he would touch a wound and hurt her even more. “Sienna,” he said in a broken voice.  
“Sting,” she whimpered. Now she was also crying. And even that seemed to hurt. “I’m sorry.”  
“You don’t have to apologise. I’m gonna get you healed up. I promise.”  
A weak smile formed on her lips. “You better keep to that promise.”  
“Of course.”  
And so, he did. He took her to the nearest hospital he could find, trying his best not to run too fiercely out of fear of hurting her even more. They rushed her to the treatment room and after what felt like hours of waiting, let him in. There she told him that she had absolutely no idea who had attacked her and that it was all a haze now. He nodded in understanding, only hoping that his master wouldn’t kick her out of the guild because she had clearly been weaker than something or someone. He also silently swore that if he ever found out who had done this to her, he would hunt them down and make them pay.  
Later that day, after all visitors were forced to leave, Sting went back to the Sabertooth guild hall. There it seemed like Jiemma had somehow already found out about Sienna’s hospitalisation. And just like Sting had feared, Jiemma decided to expel her in front of the whole guild when she came back. At least she was given a warning. He couldn’t believe it. He just couldn’t. He hated it so much. Even though he understood. He just had wanted her by his side forever but because of the rules, she had to go. He just hoped that wherever she ended up she would be good, be happy.  
On the day she had to leave, Sting started following Sienna along with Lector. “Sienna, wait up.”  
She turned around. “What?”  
“I’m coming with you.”  
The look in her eyes turned more serious. “No. You’re not.”  
“What? But-”  
“No buts, Sting. I got kicked out. I was too weak to defend myself and got taken down like that. You know that. This has nothing to do with you. So, please, just stay here. I know you love this guild and I am not taking it away from you because of my own weakness.”  
“But I...” _also love you._ But he knew he shouldn’t say it. It would be like putting some kind of weight on her heart. Whether she returned the feelings or not. He couldn’t easily be with her unless he was actually _with_ her. By her side. And for some reason she didn’t want that. She wanted him to stay here. Be happy. “I understand,” he said solemnly. “Just look after yourself, okay.”  
“Of course. And don’t worry, Sting.” She hugged him.  
He hugged her tightly, pressing her head against his chest. “I’ll miss you,” he said in a croaky voice.  
“I’ll miss you too.” After what she thought was an appropriate time for a hug, she let go. She hadn’t wanted to. Really. She would’ve been satisfied to stay in his arms forever. But she knew that she had to go. Had to leave him for now even if it made her heart cry out in pain.

After Sienna had left, Sting went straight back to his room. He slammed his door shut and fell onto his bed face-first. Not a second later he was sobbing.  
Lector, who had also started sobbing, was rubbing his back in hopes of offering some kind of comfort.  
“Do you think she knew?” Sting eventually asked in a broken voice. “How much … I loved her?”  
He shook his head. “I don’t know. I don’t think so. She seemed clueless. Why didn’t you tell her?”  
Sting looked at his friend with tear filled eyes. “’Cause it wouldn’t have done any good. It would’ve been a stupid weight. She doesn’t deserve that after everything.”  
“Yeah.”  
The rest of the night he spent on his bed, too tired, and upset to eat anything. Even Lector’s begging for him to at least have a bite didn’t achieve anything.  
The next day there was a knock on the door before it opened.  
“Sting.”  
“Sienna,” he said and looked up, even though the voice had been clearly male.  
The guy who had entered the room sighed. “It wasn’t a nightmare.”  
He covered his ears. “No. We weren’t gonna leave ... each other’s side." His lip wobbled. "By my side forever... We would never... Yeah, forever...”  
“Sting,” Lector said as tears started forming in his eyes again.  
“Sting, I understand this is painful, but you can’t stay in bed the whole time. We’ll have to go on jobs.”  
He shot up, surprising everyone in the room. “Jobs. It was on a job that she… If I had been there…” Tears started forming in his eyes again. “I should have been able to protect her.”  
“You can’t be there for her every time, Sting. She wouldn’t have liked that, and you know that.”  
He said in a wavering voice, “I … know. She told me to go and I did and … ’cause of that that happened. But she would’ve ... hated it if I’d followed her anyway. Did I really do the right thing?” He looked next to him at Lector and then at Rogue.  
Rogue sighed. “Can you really go right or wrong with this one? You just respected her wishes, that was the best that you could do and I'm sure she appreciated that.”  
“Yeah. She must’ve.” He looked in front of him and could imagine her sitting opposite him on her knees with that smile that he loved so much. “Hope that no matter what happens, she lives a good life.”  
Lector hugged him. “I’m sure she will.”  



	6. A helping hand

Sienna was walking far away from the Sabertooth guild hall while trying to hold back her tears. Every time tears formed in her eyes; she would wipe them away. She couldn’t cry. This was for the best. She had seen how much Sting enjoyed being a part of Sabertooth, the strongest guild. He belonged there. He would have an amazing future there. It just pained her so much that she wouldn’t be part of that future.  
Her body started shaking as she held onto herself. Had she really done the right thing in leaving him? _He’s happy there. He’ll be happy. He loves the place. Don’t take that away from him._ She sank to the ground as her tears became more aggressive. _But he made me happy. He’s so great._  
Even when it started raining, she didn’t move. The bandages and plasters covering her wounds became soggy.  
“Oh dear,” a female voice said above her. The woman leant down. “Miss, are you okay?”  
She focused her eyes on the woman crouching beside her. “Who…?”  
“I’m Maria.” She held out her hand. “Here, take my hand. I’ll take you some place dry, okay?”  
She weakly accepted the hand and got up. It was like all energy had been drained out of her. _I really am weak, aren’t I? I’m sorry, Sting. If only I had been stronger._  
The woman led her to a nearby house. “This is where I live with my girlfriend. She’s probably not home yet. Just take your time to get dried up and everything.”  
Sienna looked down to the side. “I don’t want to intrude.”  
“Intrude? No. You won’t be. I’m inviting you in, okay? It’d be wrong to leave a kid alone like that. How old are you?” she asked as she opened the door.  
“16.”  
Maria took in a sharp, shaky breath. “So young. Did you run away from home?”  
She blinked and looked up at her. “Um…”  
She shook her head and smiled slightly in sympathy. “You don’t have to tell me. I won’t call anyone on you.” She showed her to the bathroom. “I’ll prepare a bath for you, okay? Give you a chance to relax.”  
“Tha-tha–” A sneeze interrupted her saying thanks.  
“Oh dear. That doesn’t sound good. Let’s wrap you up warms after the bath, okay? I’ll also prepare some soup for you.”  
She shook her head. “You … don’t have to. I’ll be fine, really.”  
Maria gave her a sympathetic smile. “How long ago is it that you’ve relied on someone?”  
“Um… I have a friend…” Even though there was now a physical distance between her and Sting, she would never stop referring to him as a friend. They hadn’t stopped being friends. They were just far from each other.  
“And you relied on this friend of yours?”  
Sienna blinked in thought. “What?” Had she? Had she ever truly relied on Sting for anything? He had been there for her no matter what, but had she actually relied on him for anything? To become stronger and sometimes finding food. Most of all, for a part of her happiness. She let out a small yelp. “I’m sorry.”  
She walked over to her and put her hand reassuringly on her shoulder. “It’s alright. You’re still young. It’s not wrong to rely on people. I’m sure your friend would even appreciate that.”  
“He-he wanted to protect me. He’s so good.” Tears started forming in her eyes again.  
“Maybe next time you’re with him, you can let him protect you.” She gave her a small, playful smile. “And I’m sure it’d also boost his ego.”  
Sienna smiled weakly at the comment.  
She went over to the bath to feel the water. “The temperature feels good. I’ll leave you be then. There are bandages and plasters under the sink that you can use.”  
“Thank you, Miss Maria.” Sienna carefully got in the bath. Her injuries stung because of the contact with the water. She leant back and looked at the ceiling. _Rely on him for my protection? Would that really have been good? He is stronger than me, but still… She sighed. I didn’t want to burden him. I wanted to show that I was capable of looking after myself. That he didn’t need to worry about me._  
She screamed slightly in frustration. _Damn. He’s such an idiot._  
She could hear the door to the main room opening. Afterwards she could hear another female voice. As she was washing herself, she could hear Maria and undoubtedly her girlfriend talking. It was difficult to understand everything that was said, but they were clearly talking about her. Maria’s girlfriend’s voice had taken a tone of disapproval.  
Sienna quickly finished off and dried herself. She saw that Maria had left her a set of pyjamas. She could already tell that they’d be too big for her, but put them on, nonetheless. It was better than nothing. She went to the room where the voices were coming from. “Hello. Excuse me,” she said in a small voice.  
“Oh, there she is. What’s your name?”  
“Sienna.”  
“Well, then, Sienna. How long do you intend on staying here?”  
“I don’t know. I mean, I can just leave now.”  
“Do you have anywhere else to go?” Maria asked.  
All she could do was shake her head.  
“Obvious runaway then. We can’t keep her here. What if the police come knocking on our door or something?”  
“They won’t.”  
“Huh? How do you know?”  
“No one’s come to search for me for the past 10 years; I don’t see why they would now.”  
She blinked to register what had been said. “Excuse me. What?! Are you saying that you ran away when you were just a little brat?”  
“Yeah.”  
“How?”  
“Rukia, don’t. It could be painful.”  
Rukia rubbed her head annoyed. “Yeah. Got that.” She looked at Sienna and smiled at her slightly. “Sorry ’bout that. Just don’t exactly want police standing here, you see. Not really prepared for something like that.” She indicated a sofa. “Take a seat.”  
“Thank you.”  
“So yeah, I’m Rukia. Pleased to meet you.”  
“Sienna. Pleased to meet you to.”  
Rukia sat down on the big sofa and rested her arms on the backrest. “Another contributing factor is that I don’t want any danger near my house, anything that could pose a threat. Don’t take it personally, it’s just how I work.”  
She smiled slightly. “I understand. Wanting to keep what’s dear to you safe is natural, I think.” She clasped her hands. “To do anything for that safety.”  
She smiled at her intrigued. “Does someone have a crush?”  
Sienna blinked surprised in confusion. “What? No. He’s just a very important friend who I want to see happy and safe. I mean, sure, I want to be with him all the time and stuff; I truly enjoyed our time together, but that doesn’t mean, I have a crush on him, right?” She looked at Rukia in confusion.  
“Aaah, who knows? In the end, falling in love is a gradual thing, so can’t really tell ya. Either way, having a friend like him sounds great. Where is he?”  
She looked down sadly. “I would rather … not say.”  
“Ok.” She turned her head towards the kitchen. “How’s the soup comin’ around, babe?”  
“Almost done.”  
Rukia grinned. “Be prepared for the best soup of your life.”  
“Her cooking’s that good?”  
“Not just good, downright amazing. She’s a cook at a restaurant near the border of town and she always gets amazing reviews.”  
She smiled in admiration. “That sounds amazing. You must be very proud.”  
She chuckled. “You bet I am. Also, one of the many things I love about her.” Her smile became more easy-going. “I know, saying that you love someone for their cooking skills is kinda shallow, but it’s also the creativity that goes with it and everything. She keeps coming up with better, more creative meals.”  
Maria entered the room. She was smiling at Rukia in slight exasperation. “Are you really talking about that to our guest?”  
She grinned at her. “Well, you deserve to be praised, don’t you?”  
She shook her head, though she couldn’t help but smile. She turned to look at Sienna. “The soup’s ready.”  
She nodded and stood up. “Thank you, Miss Maria.” She looked from Maria to the ground in thought. _In the end, a partner is an upgrade to a best friend. The fact that she also looks at her like that means nothing._ As she was enjoying her soup, she asked Rukia, “What do you do for work, Miss Rukia?”  
She sighed. “Work at some crappy restaurant. Really, it’s the last place you’d want to work but I had no choice and the pay is good. Rather work at Maria’s place, but they hardly have staff changes, so I’m stuck there for now.”  
“Are they hiring?” A small, eager light had entered her eyes.  
She was taken aback. “What? Didn’t you hear me? It’s a crappy place. A young girl like you doesn’t belong there.”  
“That’s for me to decide. At the moment I have no income and I can’t stay here for who knows how long. I need a job. So, are they hiring?”  
Rukia sighed in resignation. “Yeah. But do try to look elsewhere first. It’s just not right for you to work there.”  
“And I’m sure neither it is for you. _Whatever they throw at me, I’ll handle. Don’t worry.” I feel like I’m gonna end up surviving instead of living. Anything to stay alive, huh?_


	7. Nothing you can do

As time passed, it was becoming more and more difficult for Sting to do things, mainly sleep and look after himself. It was almost like he was in mourning. He still went on jobs with Rogue, took down any enemies that would dare stand in his way, but the bright confidence that he had always had couldn’t be seen on his face anymore.  
“Sting,” Lector said worriedly next to his friend. Tears had formed in his eyes.  
His tired eyes moved to look at him. When he saw the tears, he became concerned. “What’s wrong, Lector?” His voice sounded croaky.  
“Is there anything I can do?”  
He shook his head with a derisive smile. “No. Just like I couldn’t do anything to protect her. ’Cause I failed, she’s gone.” He rested his head on the table. “I also wanna go. It was her idea to join a guild. Together. What’s the point of bein’ here when we can’t be together?”  
“You could still leave.” Though Lector honestly didn’t want to, at the moment his best friend’s happiness was top priority.  
Tears formed in his eyes. “No. I can’t! She said … she told me to stay. I can’t leave like that after everything.” His body started shaking. “Maybe in a few years she can come back. It’d be nice. I’ll keep a spot open for her.”  
Lector was rubbing his arm in comfort. “Yeah.”  
From then on, he tried his best to be like his former self. Even though his heart cried at Sting not being near Sienna, whenever he was around with others, he forced down those feelings and only showed arrogance. No one would know. No one would know how much he longed to have her in his arms.


	8. Counting the days

It was Sienna’s second year of her excommunication and she was getting used to working as a waitress in the restaurant. Though she didn’t show it, it was pretty much emotionally exhausting. The main reason for this was her boss Tom. He kept looking at her in ways that she found damn right disgusting. No one should have the right to look at someone like they were something you could order from the menu.  
However, there was a slight comfort, if she could even call it that, to all of this. He didn’t pay attention to the other female staff members. At the beginning he had; but the more time let her body grown in one would say all the right places, the more his attention would turn to her and only her.  
Naturally, she would have none of it and rejected every single advance he gave her. She still trained and could therefore take him down in whatever way she pleased. Though she was sure she would lose her job if that happened. So, she did nothing, besides glaring at his back whenever she got the chance and getting away from him whenever he tried to make a move.  
“Hey, there,” a male customer called out to her, snapping her back to the present. Not a second later a hand was around her arm.  
Sienna spun around and pulled her arm out of his hold. “Can I help you, sir?” she asked in her most professional sounding voice.  
“Do you also provide other services?” He smiled. “If you know what I mean.”  
A chill went down her spine. The implication made her sick to her very core. She shook her head; the look in her eyes had darkened slightly. “No. I am just a waitress here. If that’s all.” She started walking away but got grabbed again. This time the grip was tighter.  
She glared at the man. “Let go of me.”  
“I wasn’t done.”  
“Well, I am.” She aggressively pulled her arm free. “I am not and will never be your personal entertainer.” She stalked off angrily.  
At the end of the day Sienna visited the docks. She looked at the great expanse of the sea. “One month still,” she said in a small voice. “Then I’ll get to see you again.” The tears that had formed in her eyes streamed down her face. She curled her legs up and buried her head in her knees. “Even now, I’m counting days ’till I can see you. For five days... Five days and then you’re gone again. I really wonder … if I’d realised and told you … that I wanted to be with you. How would things have turned out? ’Cause it feels like I’m holding onto something unattainable, Sting. I just want … I just want you to know…” – she fell on her side – “that I love you,” she mouthed.


	9. Brief encounter

Now it was the year X791 and the Grand Magic Games were about to begin. Every year since joining the guild, Sting and Rogue had joined in along with their guild mates Minerva Orland, Rufus Lore and Orga Nanagear. And every single time they had won, earning Sabertooth the number one spot on the strongest guilds list. This year, however, since that Minerva was still on her mission, Yukino Aguria – a Celestial Spirit Mage – was allowed to enter until she came back.  
The event was held in the city of Crocus and before it started Mages were allowed to explore the city. Sting and Rogue decided to have some pre-event battling done and took down anyone who dared go up against the Twin Dragons. Afterwards they ran into some members of the guild Fairy Tail, including Natsu Dragneel aka Salamander and chatted with them for a bit. They revealed that not only had they also been trained by dragons, but they had killed theirs as well.  
On their way back to the hotel, a smell suddenly made Sting stop. He looked up and couldn’t help but stare at the woman who was now standing in front of him. It was like every organ in his body had stopped functioning, apart from his heart which was skyrocketing, as he stared at her in shock. She truly had become beautiful like he’d thought and just like in the past, she was wearing a dress – a simple green dress going to her knees and a string holding it up at the back. That along with her hair, which came down to her shoulders in a ponytail, made her look amazing. But along with all that was something so heart wrenching that he wanted to go back in time and beat up the culprit. Her face. The face that had smiled at him all those years ago was now looking so sombre – devoid of any true happiness.  
“Sienna,” he finally said.  
“Sting.” Even her voice sounded cold.  
“What brings you here?”  
She almost smiled at him. Almost. “The Grand Magic Games.”  
“Of course.”  
“Yes. They are quite enjoyable, though predictable with Sabertooth winning every year. But I’d expect nothing else from the strongest guild.” Every word about his guild was laced with disdain.  
“That’s true. Do-do you want to hang out?”  
Now she did smile at him. But there was no hint of humour or happiness to it. It was more like pity than anything. What the hell had happened to her? “Are you sure your _master_ would approve of you hanging out with someone as weak as me?”  
“He wouldn’t know. Nobody has to know.”  
“How sweet that you’re willing to keep it a secret from everyone. Truly magnificent.”  
He didn’t know what it was, but he could sense a strange aura coming from her. Deadly even. Master Jiemma really shouldn’t have kicked her out. If he had known she would become this fearsome, maybe he would’ve let her stay. “You can even join Sabertooth again if you want.” Sting could hear the pleading in his own voice. Pathetic.  
Sienna walked closer to him and looked him straight in the eyes. “Now why would I want to do that? I have no intention of joining the current Sabertooth.”  
He reached out his hand. He wanted to touch her. Hold her. Make her stay by his side for the rest of eternity. He had managed to keep it together with her gone for all these years but now it felt like he was breaking all over again. “Please,” escaped his mouth before he could stop it.  
She looked at him curiously. Never had she heard him say such a word. In what aspects had he changed? She loosely put her right arm on his shoulder and said. “As much as I love hearing you say that word, Sting, no can do. It’s been a long day and I wanna sleep.”  
“But-but...”  
She shook her head and released him. Then she turned around. “Was fun talking to you. Should do it again sometime. Maybe without you looking so pathetic.” Then she walked off.  
All Sting could do was stare at her, leaving him again, while tears formed in his eyes. He fell to the ground and started sobbing, his friend Lector trying to console him by rubbing his arm.  
Most importantly when she had looked into his eyes, he had thought to all those other moments of eye contact and what he had thought back then months before she had been expelled.

* * *

It was winter and Sienna was happily running around in the snow. Eventually she let herself fall and made a snow angel. She looked at the snow-filled sky and stuck her tongue out to taste some. One of the flakes stayed on it until she pulled it back in. “Look, Sting, I can also eat white stuff. Be careful otherwise I’ll one-up you.”  
He sat down next to her and said with a smile, “That’s not how it works, Sienna. You know that. Snow is just conveniently white.”  
She gave him a challenging smile as she came closer to his face. “Oh really?”  
“Yes, really,” he said, maintaining eye contact.  
She chuckled. “And what if I say that you are wrong?”  
He grinned. “Then I’ll have to prove you wrong.”  
“And how will you do that?”  
_By making you mine forever,_ he thought affectionately. As he started going even closer to her, he suddenly heard his name being shouted. He looked around annoyed at the culprit and saw Lector looking at him uncomfortably.  
“Sorry. Wrong timing, I guess,” he said, knowing all too well what his best friend had been planning on doing.  
Sting refocused his thoughts and said, “What’s up?”  
“Rogue has a new job for us,” Lector said hurriedly.  
Sting signed in irritation as he rubbed the back of his head. “Fine.” He stood up and Sienna did the same. He looked at her and saw that she seemed slightly out of it. “Sienna?”  
“Yeah,” she said.  
“You ok?”  
She nodded and smiled at him. “Yes. Fine.”

* * *

Damn. Stupid freaking damn. Sienna had not expected to see Sting like that here. She knew that he would obviously be here; he had been the past six years after all. But in none of those years since her excommunication had she seen him before face to face. Though then she had been careful not to walk into him.  
She had become complacent when it came down to stuff like that. And now that she had seen him, she felt like burying her head in a pillow and crying until the early hours, though tears were already freely forming in her eyes and streaming down her face. How he had looked at her when he had first noticed her to how he had spoken to her. Every single bit of it was so damn agonizing. Not like she had helped in any way. Though she had needed it to be that way. Because she knew, knew that if she had treated him with any kindness, she would’ve broken into tears right there and then and hugged him, accepted anything that he would offer her.  
She still was as weak as ever when it came down to him. But one thing she had been serious about was not joining the current Sabertooth again. She loved him and the thought of being in a guild together with him forever, but she disagreed with the way it worked. Kicking out the weaklings so it only has strong members just wasn’t right. You should be able to have fun in a guild, relax, not train till your body can’t handle anything anymore out of fear of being excommunicated. It was only a shame that one came with the other. She wouldn’t be able to see Sting for a prolonged time anymore unless she joined the guild again. Or someone else became the master and set in a new set of rules. Hopefully whenever it happened, it would be soon. Because her heart really was yearning to be near the White Dragon Slayer again.


	10. The Games begin

The next day the Games began. The first round was an elimination round: all five membered teams had to go through an enchanted labyrinth and make it to the finish. At the end eight teams qualified:  
in eighth place Fairy Tail team A, in seventh place Quatro Cerberus, in sixth place Mermaid Heel, in fifth place Blue Pegasus, in fourth place Lamia Scale, in third place Raven Tail, in second place Fairy Tail team B. And lastly, to no one’s surprise and Sienna’s pure happiness of seeing Sting smiling and waving at the crowd like that, in first place Sabertooth.  
The first four days of the Games would consist of a competition section and a battle section. For the competitions, each team could choose one member to compete, and the members would earn points from zero to ten depending on how they ranked. Afterwards, a battle would take place, only for this section the organizers of the Games would choose the participants that would fight, not the teams themselves. For a win, the team got ten points, whilst losing would earn them nothing. A draw in the battles would result in five points each  
The first one was a competition called ‘Hidden’ in a virtual city in the stadium where the participants could score points by attacking each other. Not as easy as it sounded because along with the real participants, there would also be copies of everyone and if the participant hit one of them, they would lose a point. The strangest thing during this challenge was that Nalpudding from Raven Tail kept attack Gray from Fairy Tail Team A, resulting in Gray getting last place. And much to Sabertooth’s glee, Rufus got first place by using his Memory-Make magic to attack all of the participants at once.  
Now it was time for the battle part of the event. The first match was Lucy Heartfealia – a celestial mage – from Fairy Tail Team A versus Flare Corona from Raven Tail. At the beginning of the match, Lucy displayed tremendous skill by being able to summon two spirits at the same time. This caused Lucy to gain the upper hand against Flare, making her cheat by threatening her guild mates’ daughter and blackmailing her into not fighting. During the onslaught of Flare’s attacks, Lucy tearfully whispered about the child’s predicament. Natsu was able to hear it and rushed over to free her by incinerating Flare’s hair, allowing Lucy to counterattack. However, the potential victory was short lived as one of Flare’s teammates, Orba, nullified Lucy’s magic which caused her to collapse and lose the match. Then Blue Pegasus' Ren defeated Mermaid Heel's Araña. Orga effortlessly defeated Quatro Cerberus' War Cry in the third matchmaking Sting shout from the balcony that he should’ve made it more interesting and Orga in turn taking the microphone and attempting to sing a song which wasn’t well received from the crowd though Sienna couldn’t help but let a small smile form on her lips. The final match was Jellal – disguised as Mystogan from Fairy Tail – against Lamia Scale's Jura, intending to avenge the humiliated Fairy Tail members. He mimicked Mystogan's magic to keep up his disguise, but he found it ineffective to use against Jura and was forced to use his own magic instead. Much to everyone’s surprise he suddenly started feeling pain in his mouth from something hot and then started laughing. All this together resulted in him forfeiting the match.


	11. Nausea

The first part of the second day tournament was Chariots.  
“This competition consists of reaching the goal without falling off from the interconnected chariots,” Chapati Lota, the commentator, explained. “The chariots underfoot are constantly in motion, so even a moment of carelessness will prove to be your undoing. They pass through the major sightseeing locales of Crocus. Which team will be the first to arrive at the goal, here at the Domus Flau?! We’ll be transmitting images from the race to everyone here in the arena through Lacrima vision.” While looking at the screens, Chapati continued, “Trailing at the back, far, far from the lead, Fairy Tail A’s Natsu is in a groggy state!!!” Meaning is was suffering from motion sickness. “And that’s not all. Right next to him, Fairy Tail B’s Gajeel and even Sabertooth’s Sting are in the same condition ...”  
“Well, this is a problem. For the strongest, invincible Sting’s only weakness to be brought out like this ...” Lector commented.  
“Fro feels the same way!” Frosch, Rogue’s Exceed, commented.  
Sienna was watching the whole race with a pained expression. “Why out of everything did you have to get onto a moving vehicle? Just get off. Or do something else. No one will blame you, Sting.” She bit her lip. “And if they do, they’ll have to deal with me.”  
“Well then, let’s take a look at the group in the lead... In the lead is Raven Tail’s Kurohebi. And behind him, Blue Pegasus’ Ichiya, Lamia Scale’s Yuka, and Mermaid Heel’s Risley. Somewhat further behind is Quatro Cerberus’ reserve member, Bacchus,” Chapati said.  
Yuka used his wave boost to get further ahead, making it impossible to use magic within its boundaries. In retaliation Risley used her gravity transformation to walk on the side of the chariot and go further ahead. Ichiya also managed to go further with his own technique. Bacchus noticed that the others were getting ahead of him so he decided to join in by destroying the chariots in front of him and the Mages on them to fly up into the air and land on them unceremoniously, giving Bacchus the chance to run by them with no problems and take first place. The next to arrive was Kurohebi, third was Risley, fourth was Yuka and fifth Ichiya.  
Right at the back the three Dragon Slayers were battling it out for last place while trying not to puke.  
Natsu strenuously pushed forward while shouting with all his might, “I’m going forward!” with his guild mate close beside him.  
“They look pathetic... Even though they can’t summon any strength, they’re still taking it so seriously...” Sting remarked.  
“Forward...”  
“Fine... I’ll give it to you. This victory. We’ll continue to win after this. Just one or two measly points, we can do without.”  
“Don’t go crying about that one point later, you baldie,” Gajeel said.  
As Natsu and Gajeel were pushing forward with all their might, Sting said, “Can I ask you one thing? Why did you enter the games? This would have been unthinkable for the Fairy Tail of the past ... worrying about the strength of the guild, or worldly things like this... The Fairy Tail that I know ... well how to say it ... does things at its own pace. Without worrying about how others might think.”  
“It’s for our comrades. For seven years ... always ... they were waiting for us. No matter how tough it was, no matter how sad, even if they were made fools of, they endured and endured and protected the guild. For our comrades, we’ll show you,” Natsu said. “The proof that Fairy Tail has kept going! And that’s why we’ll keep moving forward!!!”  
The speech brought tears to the guild member’s eyes and Sting to confusion.  
Finally, the group made it to the end. Natsu got sixth place and therefore two points and Gajeel seventh, meaning he got one point. After Chapati announced that Sting had given up, the audience started talking about how great the speech was.  
Sienna, on the other hand, didn’t know what to feel. She understood both the standpoints, definitely since looking out for yourself had been shoved down her throat when she had joined Sabertooth. But she really did agree with what Natsu had said. If someone had made a fool out of her friends, she would go after them and taken them down no matter what.

Now it was time for the one vs. one battles. The first one was Elfman from Fairy Tail Team A versus Bacchus from team B. Before the beginning of the match, the two opponents made a wager: if Bacchus won, he would get to court Elfman's sisters and if Elfman won, Bacchus' team name would be changed to ‘Quatro Puppy’ for the rest of the games. Bacchus ruthlessly attacked Elfman with his bare palms, who managed to damage Bacchus with his defensive Lizardman transformation. Elfman luckily managed to outlast Bacchus who ended up exhausting himself, winning the match and forcing Bacchus' team to be renamed.  
The next one was Mirajane of Fairy Tail Team B fighting against Jenny Realight of Team Blue Pegasus. Since the two competitors were well-known for being magazine models, their battle consisted almost entirely of a fashion showdown, much to the pleasure of the audience. One of the showdowns was even a wedding showdown. Where men and women alike from all the guilds could come down and show how good they looked.  
Sting was looking at them with little interest and then turned his gaze to the crowd. His eyes finally found who he had been looking for and he smiled while looking at her. Then her eyes met his for a second. When she turned back to look at the competition, she had a slight smile on her face. All this made him quickly look away while blushing.  
“Sting, you okay?” Lector asked confused.  
He composed himself and looked back at the unfolding event, still with a slight blush on his cheeks. “Of course. She just caught me off guard.”  
Lector sighed. _She’s probably the only person who can._  
Eventually as the showdown became redundant, Jenny proposed a wager: the loser must pose nude for the Sorcerer Magazine, which Mirajane accepted. Jenny then transformed into her battle armour while Mirajane shifted into her Satan Soul ‘Sitri’ form and easily defeated Jenny. The final match of the day was announced, with Kagura Mikazuchi of Mermaid Heel pitted against Yukino Aguria. Yukino proposed to Kagura that they wager their lives on their battle.  
Yukino summoned Libra and Pisces to attack Kagura as her opening move. Using her gravity-altering magic, Kagura defeated the two spirits, thus forcing Yukino to use a Gatekey that summoned Ophiuchus, which was regarded as the strongest among the Celestial Spirits. However, Kagura took down Ophiuchus with her sword still sheathed and easily defeated Yukino and even spared her life.  
Back at the hotel Sabertooth's master Jiemma was dissatisfied with his guild's performance. Though Sting was given another chance, Jiemma humiliated Yukino for her failure and expelled her.  
Afterwards Rogue, Sting, Lector and Frosh were walking away.  
“He sure takes things to extremes, huh, our master…” Sting said nonchalantly.  
“It can’t be helped. This is the way of the strongest guild, after all,” Lector said.  
“Fro’s lonely…” Frosh said sadly.  
“This is a ‘guild’?”  
“Huh?”  
“Yukino was our comrade,” Rogue said seriously.  
“She disappeared because she’s weak. The strongest guild had no need for her, right?” Sting said coldheartedly.  
“Is that also how you feel about Sienna?” Rogue asked calmly.  
The look in Sting’s eyes turned dangerous. He grabbed Rogue by the scruff. “That’s different and you know it! She was attacked by some bastard! We don’t even know who or how many! Could’ve been a whole buncha people for all we know! Don’t you dare compare her to anyone else!”  
“That’s extremely hypocritical of you, Sting. She was still taken down; she was still weaker than someone. There is no difference.”  
He let out a low growl. “I’d like to see you handle what she went through. Bein’ attacked out of nowhere and bein’ defeated in a fight are two totally different things. She’s stronger than some people of this damn guild and she still got kicked out.” Tears started forming in his eyes. “And I let her go. I should’ve gone with her. But she wanted me to stay and I did. I miss her so much, Rogue. She’s so amazing.”  
He sighed. “Perhaps you could talk to her after the Games.”  
He nodded. “Yeah. Just talk…” He started walking away. “Maybe give her a hug. Have her close to me. Never let her go again,” he said to himself under his breath.  
“Sting?” Lector asked worriedly.  
He gave his friend a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, buddy, it’s all good.” Though he said the words, it felt like a lie. Without Sienna by his side, it felt like a part of him was missing. Her selflessness and strong will and many other things he couldn’t help but love about her. Almost like a puzzle piece. Separately they could survive, but together they were stronger.  
He closed his bedroom door behind him and sank to the floor where he buried his face against his legs. “Lector… Did I do the right thing in staying here? In leaving her alone?”  
“She … she wanted you to stay. You did what she asked.”  
“Yeah. Once this is over, I’ll talk to her. She … she should know…” – his voice broke entirely – “how much she means to me.”  
All Lector could do was give a solemn nod.


	12. Expulsion

Yukino eventually found Lucy and offered her two golden Gatekeys to Lucy after meeting with her, Natsu and some of her other guild mates, so Lucy could complete her collection of the Zodiac Gatekeys. Yukino said to her that when the twelve Zodiac Gatekeys were all gathered, a gateway that could change the world would open; however, Lucy turned down the offer.  
Suddenly something green started slipping through the window – vines. Seconds later a woman with green hair, clad in green appeared with a cold look in her light green eyes. “Welcome to the team, Yukino Aguria,” she said without a trace of compassion.  
Natsu stood up in defence and looked at her as if he was prepared to battle.  
She smiled at him. “Relax. I’m not here to fight, Salamander. Just checking how she’s holding up. As a former member of Sabertooth to another.”  
“What you going on about?”  
She sighed. “You may be strong, but you definitely don’t have many brains. I’m a former member of Sabertooth, just like her now. The only difference is I got chucked out four years ago because I lost against a certain someone who didn’t want me in the guild anymore.”  
They all looked at her dumbstruck. Not only because of how this woman spoke, but also because it hadn’t been revealed to them yet that Yukino had been expelled from Sabertooth.  
“Who would do something like that?” Lucy asked.  
The look in her eyes hardened. “You haven’t met her yet, so there’s no point in telling you who. But believe me, when you do meet her, which I presume you will now that there’s a free spot on the team, you will know. She isn’t one for mercy after all.” She sneered. “I guess you could consider this a warning. Don’t underestimate any of them. They didn’t become Fiore’s strongest guild by playing nice.” And with that, she was gone.  
The fact that Yukino had been expelled because of her loss angered Natsu so much that he went after the guild’s master. After Natsu punched out Dobengal – the guild member summoned to fight him – he and Jiemma engaged in a duel. However, Minerva appeared and ended their duel swiftly by taking Happy hostage and convincing Natsu to settle their dispute in the Grand Magic Games. As Natsu was leaving, he stated that Sabertooth would never surpass Fairy Tail because they care for their friends.

“Are you sure you okay?” Sienna asked while walking beside Yukino.  
Yukino looked next to her startled and said, “Yes. I will be fine. There is no need to worry.”  
“Yeah. That’s what they all say. But if yours was the same as mine, it couldn’t have been nice. Definitely not with all those people there.” She added in a softer voice, “And for me, you know, the guy you like.”  
Yukino looked at her surprised. “You like someone from the guild?”  
She rubbed her head. “Yeah. But it’s complicated since he’s an idiot that doesn’t seem to understand the concept of truly caring for your friends other than those close to you. And I don’t know how to get it into his head. He cared ... cares a lot about me, but not many other people. Hopefully, that will change someday.” She sighed. “I’m surprised Sting wasn’t expelled as well.”  
Yukino made the click but decided not to comment on it. “The master said that Sting would be given another chance.”  
A small smile spread across Sienna’s lips. “Well in that case, I hope he doesn’t waste it. He’s the strongest Mage I know; he belongs in that guild. And anyone who thinks otherwise can go to hell and I definitely don’t mind sending them there myself. He’ll make it through. I believe in him.”  
“You really love him, don’t you?”  
“Yeah,” she admitted with a sad smile. “Shame he probably doesn’t feel the same. As a friend probably, but I don’t know ...” She brought her fingers to her lips. “It’s pretty much a pipe dream thinking that he still feels the same way after all those years. There’s no way, right?”  
“Um ... I don’t know. Just don’t give up hope yet,” Yukino said considering how she had seen him looking at Sienna earlier that day.  
Sienna smiled and bowed. “Thank you, Yukino. And if there’s anything you want, don’t be shy to ask.” Then she was gone again.


	13. Pandemonium

The following day the Grand Magic Games continued, beginning with an event called "Pandemonium". It involved the participants entering a magical citadel filled with 100 monsters of varying strengths and individually doing battle with any number of monsters they chose. Representing Fairy Tail Team A, Erza Scarlet requested the 100 monsters as her opponents. Erza killed the 100 monsters using various types of armour to match their strengths and weaknesses. As a result, the crowd praises Fairy Tail and the guild is awarded 10 points. Because there were no more monsters to fight, the game officials decided to determine the ranks of the remaining participants by means of a device called ‘Magic Power Finder’. Using this tool, participants must attack it with their magic power. Then the device would calculate and display their equivalent scores depending on the extent of power used. In the end, Cana Alberona of Fairy Tail Team B dominated the event by using the Fairy Glitter spell lent to her by Mavis – the guild’s first master. With Cana's victory, Fairy Tail Team B receives 8 points, and the audience began to burst once more into a resounding swarm of cheers and claps due to the finish of the two Fairy Tail teams.  
In the battle portion of the Grand Magic Games’ third day, Millianna of Mermaid Heel beat Semmes of Quatro Puppy while Rufus swiftly defeated Blue Pegasus' Eve. For the third match, Laxus Dreyar of Fairy Tail Team B was chosen to battle against Alexei of Team Raven Tail. Since the opponent was from a suspicious guild, the Fairy Tail members took extra precautions by watching the actions of Ivan Dreyar – Laxus’ father – as well as the other four Raven Tail members. However, as the match began, the spectators were shocked to see Laxus being beaten by Alexei, although no suspicious movements could be seen from the Raven Tail team. It turned out that the two duelling people were just illusions created by Alexei in order for him to have a talk with Laxus. As it turned out the other Raven Tail members being monitored by Fairy Tail were just lifelike illusions, for in reality they were with Alexei on the battlefield. Alexei revealed that he was in fact Ivan Dreyar. Laxus was unwilling to give the Lumen Histoire's location, so Ivan and the Raven Tail members were forced to fight him. Before their battle begins, Ivan declared that Raven Tail was a guild especially made to take down Fairy Tail.  
After Laxus had defeated Ivan and the four Raven Tail elite members, Ivan's illusions disappeared to the shock of everyone in the stadium. The game officials declared Laxus the victor, and Ivan told him that Lumen Histoire was Fairy Tail’s 'darkness'. Because they broke the rules, the Raven Tail team was disqualified for the remainder of the Games, and its members were taken away by the soldiers. The next match was Wendy Marvell of Fairy Tail Team A against Sherria Blendy of Team Lamia Scale for the final match of the day. As the two exchanged attacks, gusts of wind surround the arena since Sherria revealed herself to be a Sky God Slayer. Wendy used an advanced Sky Dragon Slayer attack resulting in Sherria falling on the ground. Wendy was about to be announced as the winner of the battle when Sherria suddenly stood up with her wounds fully healed. With Sherria being fully healed and Wendy being almost depleted of magic power, their battle continued, with the former casting a high-level spell towards the latter. However, it seemed that Wendy enhanced Sherria's physical strength, causing the attack to gain a lot of force and thus missing Wendy. The two competitors then engaged in a hand-to-hand combat. But due to the time limit and their unwillingness to give up, their battle resulted in a draw, giving both teams 5 points.


	14. Naval Battle

The fourth day of the competitions started with an event, 'Naval Battle', which involved the participants swimming in a giant water sphere and knocking the other competitors out. After the other participants fell out of the aquatic sphere, a five-minute battle between Lucy and Minerva followed. However, Minerva quickly attacked Lucy, and she managed to steal the keys of the Celestial Spirit mage. Regardless of this, Lucy refused to surrender. After hearing Lucy's intentions, Minerva stopped attacking up to the extent that the five-minute mark was reached. However, Minerva resumed attacking Lucy until the game officials decided to stop the match. The Fairy Tail members snap, and Minerva dangles Lucy out of the sphere while the others rush to her aid.  
As Sienna watched the whole scene unfold, her face started paling more and more. It was happening again. Minerva really had no mercy. And to do it in front of all these people. Oh god. Sienna was shaking. She was actually shaking. Out of fear, or anger or something else; she didn’t know. But one thing she did know was that her last meal was coming up. She quickly ran to the exit, apologising to people when she passed them and went to the closest toilets.  
When she had cleaned herself up, she exited the bathroom to find a red cat wearing a vest standing at the exit. “Lector,” she said in a small voice. “What are you doing here?”  
He looked at her worriedly. “Are you all right?”  
She knew her face hadn’t regained all of its colour yet, so she said, “Slightly ill. Must’ve eaten something bad earlier today.” She took a breath. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be outside cheering?”  
He looked at her. Should he tell her the truth of what had made him come here? He knew she wasn’t telling him everything. Though he could hardly blame her. But he had seen it. Seen that during the battle, while it looked like she was about to throw her guts up, she had looked at Sting. For some kind of reassurance or support he guessed. Maybe telling her would make her feel better. “Sting was worried about you.”  
“What?” she said in a high-pitched voice, using the wall to lean against.  
He saw colour filling her cheeks. “He was worried about you.”  
“But-but he was watching the match. I-I could see him looking at it. He was enjoying it. It doesn’t make sense. How could he have noticed me going anywhere?”  
“Calm down. He saw for a second that you were moving away, so told me to investigate.”  
She lowered down to her knees while holding her head in her hands. “Oh, dear god. Why?”  
Lector neared her. “What’s wrong?”  
Tears started forming in her eyes. “I don’t know. I just ... I just want him to be happy. And now he’s worrying about me. And I probably made him feel like crap when we first met again. I’m just so stupid. Why can’t liking a guy be simple? But it’s not. Because ... because he doesn’t understand everything yet that I want him to understand. And I don’t know how to tell him. I guess this is my punishment for being weak. Not only physically back then, but also emotionally in not being able to tell him how I truly feel.”  
Lector had half the mind then and there to go and tell his best friend what had just been said to him. He looked at Sienna and knew that he couldn’t tell Sting about this confession. It was hers and hers only to say. “Don’t give up,” he eventually said.  
She smiled at him. “Funny. Yukino Aguria also said something like that to me before. I guess if two people of the guild say so, I really shouldn’t.”  
Lector nodded and turned around. “I should get going.”  
“Yeah. Have fun with the rest of the games.”

Fairy Tail Team A and B were merged into one team due to Raven Tail’s disqualification.  
The new team consisting of Natsu, Gray, Erza, Gajeel, and Laxus, were well-received as they entered the field.  
The second part of the tournament began with a tag battle between Blue Pegasus’ Ichiya Vandalay Kotobuki and ‘Rabbit’ and Quatro Puppy’s Rocker and Bacchus. To everyone’s shock, it appeared that ‘Rabbit’ was actually Nichiya – an Exceed also known as Ichiya’s counterpart from a world called Edolas – in disguise. After the Exceed was punched by Bacchus, Ichiya bulked up to defeat the Quatro Puppy opponents, awarding Blue Pegasus with 10 points.  
Mermaid Heel’s Kagura Mikazuchi and Millianna went up against Lamia Scale's Lyon Vastia and Yuka Suzuki for the second tag battle of the games. The two teams struggled to earn a victory, only to have their battle ending in a draw due to the time limit.  
For the third and final match of the day, the spectators looked on in silence as Natsu and Gajeel and Sting and Rogue entered the field. As the battle commenced, Sting and Rogue were about to take the initiative when they were suddenly attacked by Natsu and Gajeel. The four mages then exchanged attacks; however, the audience watched in shock as the Fairy Tail Dragon Slayers overpower the Sabertooth Dragon Slayers. Unable to keep themselves on par with their adversaries, Sting activates ‘White Drive’ while Rogue powers up using ‘Shadow Drive’. Sting and Rogue began attacking Natsu and Gajeel with their powers being increased. After receiving heavy blows from the Sabertooth Dragon Slayers, Natsu and Gajeel managed to hold them off, forcing Sting and Rogue to activate ‘Dragon Force’ on their own will, to the shock of the Fairy Tail audience considering its near impossible to do it just like that. Sting decided to finish the Fairy Tail Dragon Slayers alone considering his promise to Lector all those years ago. As the three mages fight, the tide turns in favour of Sting as he unleashed a powerful attack on Natsu and Gajeel, resulting in the collapse of the arena floor, and after a hand-to-hand combat underground, Sting was seemingly the victor of the match. However, the Fairy Tail duo stood up, commented on Sting’s strength, and argued about his position while attacking, thereby causing Natsu to drag Gajeel on a mining cart and send it away. While Gajeel was left incapacitated due to motion sickness, Natsu challenged the Twin Dragons of Sabertooth alone, in retribution to what Sting did earlier on them. The tag battle of the Dragon Slayers came to a close, with Natsu overpowering the combined attacks of Sting and Rogue.  
This outcome caused Sienna to whelp. _This isn’t good. Jiemma said he’d give Sting one more chance. Is he gonna kick him out as well? He can’t. Sting loves the guild. Stay strong. Please. Please stay strong. I’ll be there if you need me. I promise._

Following Sting and Rogue’s defeat, Jiemma furiously attempted to expel the two from Sabertooth. Lector tried to defend Sting, causing Jiemma to seemingly kill him, prompting Sting to blast the Guild Master through the chest. Minerva then suggested that Sting become the new master. She then also revealed that she had sent Lector to a special place with her magic. Sting thanked her wholeheartedly and asks her to bring him back. In return she told him coldly that she won’t hand Lector over until they’d won the games.


	15. Fierce competition

The guilds participated in a battle royal within the city for the games’ final event. While the other teams eliminated Quatro Puppy’s team and endanger Fairy Tail’s lead, Fairy Tail’s team remained motionless, to their guild's confusion. Mavis revealed she was telepathically relaying a battle strategy to them, which she had formulated based on their opponents' behaviour throughout the tournament, allowing her to predict their moves. After Fairy Tail eliminated Blue Pegasus under Mavis’s direction, Gray faced Rufus. Rufus overpowered Gray with his ability to memorise any form of magic and use it against him. Determined to win after suffering his earlier humiliation against Rufus, Gray overcame Rufus’s magic by conjuring different ice weapons faster than even Rufus could memorise, lowering his guard long enough to defeat him.  
During the event, Sienna noticed that Sting was acting off somehow. It had been hard to believe that he and Rogue hadn’t been expelled, but this was just weird. She looked over to the balcony and stared in horror as she only saw Frosch there. _Where’s Lector?_ she thought fearfully. She ground her teeth. Oh, she really wanted to hurt someone now. But she needed to know for sure. She made sure no one was looking and turned into the thinnest vines she could think of and went over to the balcony.  
“Hey, Frosch.”  
It turned over with a worried look though a smile still remained on its face. “Hi, there.”  
“Sorry to appear out of nowhere like this but where is Lector?”  
Tears formed in its eyes.  
Suddenly something hit her. He wouldn’t ... would he? He may be a bastard of a master, but to actually kill someone. “Oh no.”  
Frosch shook its head. “He’s not dead. But ... Lady Minerva has him.”  
She staggered in her crouched position, making her fall over. “What? Why?”  
“So, we will win.”  
Sienna’s eyes flared up in anger. “She’s blackmailing Sting to win.”  
“Yes.”  
She stood up and composed herself. “Thanks, Frosch. I hope everything goes well.”  
“Fro hopes so too.”  
She patted the Exceed and went back to where she had been sitting.  
As Gajeel and Laxus squared off against Rogue and Olga respectively, Minerva pitted Erza and Kagura against each other before leaving with Millianna. Kagura demonstrated her superiority over Erza with her sheathed sword. During Kagura’s attack, Erza saves her from being injured by falling rubble. Kagura recognized Erza as a girl from her past – Erza had rescued Kagura during a raid on their hometown, Rosemary Village. Kagura prepared to surrender, but Minerva stabbed her, bringing Sabertooth to first place and pushing Erza over the edge. Meanwhile, Jura joined the fight between Laxus and Olga, while Gray and Juvia team up to fight Lyon and Sherria.  
During his battle, Rogue expressed his understanding of Gajeel’s camaraderie in Fairy Tail and stopped fighting. However, Rogue's shadow came to life and possessed him, and in turn attempted to kill Gajeel with his shadow magic. Gajeel infused Rogue's shadow magic into his body, achieving an Iron Shadow Dragon form. Gajeel impressed Rogue as he absorbs his Shadow Dragon Slayer Magic and enters the Iron Shadow Dragon Mode, now using the shadows to his advantage to throw Rogue off guard. The two continued their fight in the shadows, until Gajeel pulled his opponent out and blasted him away using his roar attack, earning another point for Fairy Tail. After Rogue lay on the ground defeated, a shadow being abandoned Rogue's body and comments on "the current Rogue's limit". Frosch ran to its friend's aid, trying to protect him from Gajeel. Sienna also noticed this and concentrated, prepared to make a wall between the two Dragon Slayers if necessary. Gajeel reassured the Exceed that the fight is over. When Rogue regained consciousness but didn’t remember what had happened during their fight, Gajeel, as well as Mavis, expressed concern about the shadow creature that had possessed Rogue.  
While Erza, Gray, and Juvia’s battles continue, Jura takes out Olga with a single strike and attempts to do the same with Laxus. However, Laxus recovers quickly, and the two engage in a duel. Laxus defeats Jura after a heated battle, bringing Fairy Tail to first place. Gray and Juvia then defeat Lyon and Sherria, while Erza activates her Second Origin to don the invincible Nakagami Armour, allowing her to defeat Minerva as well. As their last opponent, Sting came out of hiding and challenged Fairy Tail, intending to claim victory by taking out all five battle-weary wizards at once. Stunned at five's determination, however, Sting couldn’t bring himself to fight and forfeited to Fairy Tail, who were then declared the winners of the Grand Magic Games. Millianna then reunites Sting with Lector, having found the Exceed during the games. They have a tearful embrace, causing Sienna to start sobbing out of relief.


	16. Threat from the future

Unfortunately, celebrations had to wait as Crocus was evacuated while Princess Hisui’s father, King Toma E. Fiore, requested that the wizards remain in the city to help fight any dragons that survive the Eclipse Cannon's attack.  
While the king was explaining everything to the mages, Sting looked worriedly at Sienna who was standing near to him.  
She smiled at him. This time genuinely and it made his heart do a double take. “Worried about little old me?”  
He rubbed his head. “I guess I can’t help it.”  
She walked over to him. “Don’t. I’ll show you and the rest of Sabertooth how much stronger I’ve become. That’s a promise.”  
“Along with not dying.”  
“Only if you do the same.”  
“I promise I won’t die,” he said, feeling himself growing happier with each passing second speaking to her without any hostility.  
“I also promise I won’t die. Really. I wouldn’t dream of it with you still in this world.”  
Before he could say anything else, the group was ordered to go and defeat the dragons and their underlings.  
Future Rogue, who had come from 7 years in the future and taken Sting’s powers by killing him, used his White Shadow Dragon technique to defeat Natsu. But Ultear and Merudy intervened and saved Natsu. When Eclipse – a gate used to travel through time – opened, Lucy suddenly declared they must close the gate and moved to do so.  
To Princess Hisui's surprise, Lucy revealed that the Eclipse Cannon wasn’t real, and dragons from the past begun emerging from the gate. With Lucy unable to close the gate due to the eclipsed moon's power, she and Yukino summoned the twelve Zodiac spirits to close Eclipse, leaving seven dragons outside. Future Rogue ordered the dragons to lay waste to Crocus. The wizard guilds fought the dragons but became completely overpowered. Recovering from his injuries, Natsu appeared on the city rooftops to challenge Rogue again.  
As the battle between the guilds' strongest wizards and the dragons continued, Sting and Rogue revealed that they have no real experience in battling other dragons, as they actually had killed their dragon masters at their behest. At Mercurius, Future Rogue told Natsu that he had planned to use the seven dragons against Acnologia and to become the new Dragon King. Realizing only dragon slayer magic could harm the dragons; Natsu called out to the dragon slayers in the city to fight against them. At Jellal’s request, Doranbalt released Oración Seis member Cobra from detainment to even out the numbers between dragons and dragon slayers.  
During the battle, Ultear prepared to kill Rogue – considering his future self was to blame for this mayhem – but Sting arrived, which reinvigorated Rogue. Ultear determined that she no longer has the right to live for attempting to kill an innocent person.  
Meanwhile, the wizards continued struggling against the miniature dragons. As several wizards across Crocus are killed by the dragons, Ultear recalled her forbidden Last Ages spell, which is capable of reversing time at the cost of the user's life. Ultear decided to atone for her lifelong misdeeds by using the spell to avert the dragons' arrival in the present.  
Afterward, she discovered that only one minute had been reversed and collapsed. As a result of her spell, however, the wizards are able to foresee and prevent their own deaths. At Mercurius, Lucy reunited with her friends near Eclipse with her future self's notebook and revealed that they can return Future Rogue and the dragons to their respective time periods by destroying Eclipse permanently. On Mercurius, Lucy and Yukino used their celestial spirits on Eclipse in a knowingly futile attempt to destroy it. In the sky, Natsu realized that Frosch from Future Rogue's timeline no longer exists, having been killed in one year's time, and told Future Rogue that everyone will decide their own future. As the celestial wizards struggled to close the gate, Natsu finally released his full strength and Atlas Flame helped boost his power. Together, they ram Rogue and Motherglare into Eclipse, obliterating the gate. The dragons, as well as the future selves of Rogue and Lucy, returned to their timelines. Before disappearing, Future Rogue informs Natsu that Frosch's death is what causes his change, shocking Natsu with the name of Frosch's killer.

Now that the battle was over, Sting rushed as fast as he could to find Sienna. He found her struggling to walk while leaning against a wall and holding onto her side. He sprinted towards her and became her crutch. She looked at his now-really-worried face and smiled. “You shouldn’t be that worried. It’s nothing big.”  
“You’re bleeding terribly, Sienna.”  
“Nothing that a bandage won’t fix. How are you?”  
He smiled at her. “Fine as you can see.”  
She shook her head. “That’s not what I meant, Sting. How are you emotionally? Frosch kinda told me what happened to Lector and I saw it.”  
“I’ll be fine.”  
She ruffled the bottom of his hair with her thumb, making him weak at the knees. “That’s good. It’s so horrible that she would do something like that. Blackmailing you to win the games. It’s like she thinks you need an extra reason to be at your full strength. Sure, fighting for your friends is great and all and I totally agree with it, but it shouldn’t be used as blackmail. She did something terrible.”  
He stopped and stared at her. Somehow, she had become so much more mature over the past four years. He considered it, until he heard his name being shouted. He looked annoyed at the culprit of ruining the perfect moment yet again and saw his guild mates looking at him open-mouthed. “Learn to read a situation, will ya!” he said annoyed.  
“I have memorised this moment and shall no longer interfere when I see this again.”  
Sting’s cheeks reddened, growing in colour by the nervous giggle coming from beside him. He looked at Sienna who was blushing slightly. She smiled at him fondly though there was a still slight pain in her eyes courtesy of the wound in her side.  
_Damn. She really is my weakness. But I can’t worry about that now. I’ve got to get her to a healer._ He inhaled deeply and lifted her up. He could feel the eyes of his guild mates on him as he carried her away towards any capable healers, while trying to calm his heart down so she wouldn’t hear its rushing.


	17. Nervous question

A few days later there was a grand banquet held by the King of Fiore to honour the Mages who had fought to defend the city.  
While everyone was doing their own thing, Sting said cheerfully, “Natsu, let’s have a drink!”  
“Let’s do this, Natsu,” Lector added.  
“Salamander ain’t here,” Gajeel said.  
“What?! I was about to put a seal on him to close the gap between us,” Sting said shocked.  
“Houston, we have a problem.”  
“Fro thinks so too.”  
Sting heard chuckling behind him and turned around to see Sienna smiling at him incredulously, making him smile. “You really have a knack with coming up with the strangest ideas.”  
He looked at her stunned. It was so weird seeing her in anything but green, but the red ball gown in all its glory looked so good on her that he couldn’t help but say, “You’re beautiful.”  
Her smile turned into a shy one. “Thank you. You’re not too bad yourself. It’s interesting seeing you in something so formal.”  
Sting bit the inside of his cheek. “It’s only necessary.”  
She nodded. “True. Also, I hear congratulations are in order.”  
“Huh? For what?”  
“For becoming Sabertooth’s new master. That’s true, right? Heard you K.O.’d Jiemma.”  
“That’s true. Thank you.” Then something came to mind. He knew he would have to say this carefully considering how sensitive the subject was. “Can you join Sabertooth again now? We’ll change. I promise.”  
Her smile softened to an affectionate one. “It was more interesting when you begged for it.” She could kick herself for saying it, but the words had come out of her mouth before she could stop them.  
He looked away uncomfortably. “Do you want me to?”  
She aggressively shook her head. “No. ’Cause it’s not you. I mean it was you, but not entirely you. Guess you were a bit too surprised seeing me.”  
He chuckled. “That’s an understatement. So, will you?”  
She grinned at him. “Of course. I know you enough by now to know that you don’t break your promises, Sting.” She looked around her. “If that’s all, I’ve gotta conquer the food before it’s all gone. See you later.”  
He grabbed onto her arm. “No. There’s something else.”  
Suddenly the pair heard Frosch happily say, “Yukino.”  
They turned around, Sting’s hand still on Sienna as they faced the former Sabertooth guild member.  
Yukino turned away and started away. “A-apologies ... I shouldn’t have come here after all...”  
“Wait!” Sting shouted, letting go off Sienna. He neared her. “I’m sorry... I didn’t know you were here... Master and our lady have both vanished.”  
“Eh?” Lucy said.  
“We’re going to start over from scratch, and rebuild Sabertooth from the ground up... You know ... we’ve been quite ... cold towards you. But we’re going to become a guild that treasures and values our comrades from now on.”  
“Why are you telling me all this?” Yukino asked, looking down sadly.  
“We want you back... I guess that’s kinda how it is if we go with the flow...”  
“Of course that’s how you’d want the flow to go!” Kagura shouted, clearly drunk.  
“Lady Kagura?!”  
“Yukino’s life belongs to me! She’s Mermaid Heel property now! I won’t stand for any back talk on that matter.”  
“What?!”  
“Eh?!!! Eh...?” Yukino said surprised.  
“You’re drunk as hell!” Sting said angrily.  
“Shaddup! Yukino’s Mermaid Heel’s now!”  
Soon enough the other guilds stated that they wanted Yukino in their guild resulting in a brawl breaking out.  
_Hope she’s all right with all the attention,_ Sienna thought while stuffing a piece of food in her mouth while watching the brawl.  
“Sienna,” Sting said from beside her.  
“Oh yeah. You wanted to say something else.” She turned and smiled at him. “Tough I have to congratulate you first on the way you talked to her. It was really great and showed that you also meant what you said to me.”  
“Of course. I would never lie to you.” He rubbed his head shyly.  
“I know you wouldn’t. Though you were more descriptive with her.”  
“Well yeah. We don’t really need that ... I think.”  
She giggled. “That’s true. So, what’s up?”  
He could feel his heart pounding faster by the second. He could do this. He had practised it last night in his head. Though then he hadn’t been looking at that beauty standing in front of him. “Can you put your food away for a bit?”  
“That important?” She placed her plate on a nearby table. “Scared I’ll drop it?”  
He smiled at here. “Maybe. Could be quite shocking what I’m about to ask you... Or predictable... I’ll guess we’ll see.”  
She looked at him confused. “Sting, what are you going on about?”  
_Damn. Why are they so difficult to say? Say the words, Sting!_ “Will-will you go out with my girlfriend?” Not only had the words been wrong, considering they were from two sentences that he had practiced, but he had jumbled them up and spoken them almost too fast for her to hear.  
But she had heard and looked at him confused, with slight pain in her eyes. “What? You have a girlfriend?”  
His cheeks started reddening. “No. I was hoping ... you ... you know, would be mine.”  
Now her cheeks started reddening as well along with her heart trying to escape her chest. Was he serious? Actually serious. That meant that he had also meant that almost kiss. She had been so scared to get her hopes up with everything concerning him. But now he was asking her. And damn, it was so cute. He was blushing like crazy. Maybe because of the world jumble or just the nerves. But she would soon get rid of that. “Yes,” she said happily.  
Sting moved a piece of hair out of the way with his right hand and then cupped her head in it while his other rested on her arm and kissed her. During the kiss ,his left hand moved towards the small of her back. Sienna’s had gone to the top of his jacket where she was loosely holding onto it, pulling onto it slightly – for a connection to reality and facing the fact that she was actually kissing the man she loved while her brain was going into overdrive.  
“That’s enough!” Arcadios, Chief of the Cherry Blossom Holy Knight Squadron, shouted to the continued fighting. “His Majesty has arrived!”  
Sting pulled away while grinning like crazy. “I guess we’re destined to be interrupted.”  
“Don’t worry. I’m sure that at some point we’ll find a place and time where we won’t be,” she said, grinning just as broadly with tears in her eyes.  
“For your bravery in the Grand Magic Tournament and for saving this country from mortal danger. His Majesty has come here in person, let that sink into your very hearts.”  
“What’s up, bitches?! Let’s crank it up a notch!” Natsu said, finally appearing with the royal garbs on, nonetheless.  
“Give that back, pumpkin,” Mato, the game’s mascot and also the king of Fiore, said nervously.  
Everyone who wasn’t in Fairy Tail looked at the scene in shock. Natsu’s guild mates, however, weren’t as shocked but more exasperated as he continued spouting, “Take the stick out of your assess ... since we won, I’ll be king and you can all be my subordinates!!!”  
After everything had calmed down, music started playing. Sting was still blushing like crazy, though clearly more relaxed after having finally kissed her. He could even feel the afterglow and honestly wanted more. _Wait. You’ve waited for years, you’re not gonna screw this up by being impatient._  
“Um…” he said unsurely. “Would you like to dance?”  
“Yes,” Sienna said while smiling broadly.  
He took her hand and led her to the dance floor. He wasn’t sure of where best to put his hands so looked towards the other pairs for guidance. One hand on the back and the other one held hers, all simple enough. The beginning was quiet uneasy because he didn’t know what to do. He was moving around, but the way that he was holding her didn’t feel natural, not at all.  
“Sting?” Sienna asked in a soft voice, realising that something was wrong.  
He let out an annoyed sigh. “It feels weird dancing with you like this.”  
“How would you rather have it?”  
He gently led her arms around his neck.  
She smiled. “Yes. They do feel more at home there.”  
The blush that had disappeared sprung on his cheeks yet again. He quickly looked at the floor in an attempt to hide it. “That’s good,” he mumbled. He put his own hands on her lower back. “Is that alright?”  
“Yes.”  
So, the pair danced like that. As time passed, Sting came closer and closer so that he was practically holding her in a hug. His chin was resting on her shoulder and his arms were properly wrapped around her. One of Sienna’s hands had gone up and started gently stroking his head.  
“I missed you so much,” he said, trying not to cry.  
“I missed you too, Sting. But it’s alright. I’m not going anywhere.”  
He abandoned dancing entirely and hugged her. “Promise?”  
“Promise.”  
  
Lector, who had gone to Rogue’s side the moment Sting had approached Sienna, had tears forming in his eyes. Rogue on the other hand smiled slightly at the sight and went on with his business.  
“Hey, Rogue,” Lector said.  
“Yes.”  
“If-if something had happened to me earlier, do you think this could have happened sooner? Because I wouldn’t have minded it.”  
“I would say that’s a terrible idea. Yes, they are good together and clearly care deeply about each other, but there was nothing wrong with them waiting. I’m sure it did them good.”  
“What? How can you say that? Sting was in so much pain after she left.”  
He sighed. “Yes. But they now also know what they mean to each other.”  
“I guess so.” He looked at the couple and smiled. _I’m really happy for you, Sting._  
  
After the dancing, Sienna went back to the food table. This time, however, she was loosely holding onto Sting’s hand. Sting on the other hand was looking down in serious thought.  
Once Sienna had served herself and was enjoying herself, Sting said seriously, “I-I have to tell you something.”  
She looked at him confused. Even though it wasn’t intentional, her mind went to a love confession. _Too early for that. Shut up, she told herself._  
“You know, I never considered you weak, not once. You’re one of the strongest people I know, and all this proves that. But I … I…” He looked straight at her. “I can’t help but want to protect you. You’re just so amazing, Sienna.”  
She blinked surprised before a nervous giggle escaped her lips. “Thank you.” She looked up at him fondly. “Though honestly, I feel the same. Like I don’t know how I could, but I’d hate having to see you hurt, Sting.”  
A small blush dusted his cheeks. That, honestly, he hadn’t been expecting. All her training had been so she could look after herself. Not … to protect him. He didn’t need that. He was a Dragon Slayer, one of the strongest Mages out there. Though whether he needed it or not, that didn’t matter. What mattered most of all was the fact that she had said that she was willing to protect him. It meant that he was just that important to her.  
Her smile turned loving. “Sting,” she said softly.  
He sat down on a chair next to her and rested his head on her shoulder. “Thank you.”  
Sienna let out a soft chuckle. “’Course. You may be strong, but you’re still an idiot.”  
An irritated smile formed on his lips. He looked at her. “What was that?”  
She giggled silently. “What? I thought Dragon Slayers had amazing hearing. Or was that maybe a lie?”  
“No. I’m just giving you a chance to take it back.”  
She put down her plate and cocked her head in fake thought. “No. I don’t think I will. But I will admit one thing.”  
“What’s that?”  
“That you’re an amazing idiot.” She hugged him and kissed his cheek. “But more than anything, you’re my idiot.”  



	18. A grand day out

Once everything had been settled, Sting went out on a date with Sienna. He had gone over countless date ideas in his head, but it had come down to one specific one: shopping in the nearby market. It meant spending time with her and hopefully, if she liked something, buying something for her.  
As it turned out, it had been a great idea since throughout the whole date she had been admiring the stalls and sometimes going to them. And that smile. Oh, he loved that smile so much. He had almost forgotten how happy it had made him in the past to just see her smile like that. At anyone, though most importantly at him. But he could still see a darkness in her eyes. He just wondered when the appropriate time would be to ask about that.  
“Hey, Sienna,” he suddenly said.  
She stopped and looked up at him. “Yes.”  
“You don’t have to stop,” he said with a smile. “I was just wondering; what did you do during those four years that you were away? I mean … did you have a job?”  
She nodded. “Yeah. I worked as a waitress in a restaurant in the next town over.”  
“Why not here?”  
She shrugged. “It just happened, and I feel like people would’ve recognised me. Not like I was ashamed or anything … but I guess I just wanted a fresh start when it came down to jobs. And it was. I managed to maintain it for four years after all.”  
“Really?”  
She gave him a sly smile. “Do you doubt me?”  
“No. It’s just …”  
“What?”  
He sighed with a smile. “It’s strange that you would want to work somewhere like a restaurant when you’re capable of so much more.”  
Surprise and embarrassment washed over her face as her cheeks started reddening. “Thank you,” she said in a high-pitched voice. “It’s just … the pay was good, and it wasn’t really horrible or anything.”  
For some reason ‘really’ caught Sting’s attention. _Should I ask? The look in her eye’s darkening and it’s probably not first date material._ He sighed. “As long as you enjoyed it.”  
She smiled and stood on her toes to be closer to his face. “Yeah. I did. Along with missing you like crazy, of course.”  
He stroked her head. “Good thing that’s in the past then.”  
Much to Sting’s surprise, she let out a giggle.  
“What?”  
She rubbed her head. “Sorry. It’s just so strange all of this. I mean … not that weird considering it almost happened … but it still feels too good to be true.”  
Sting let go of her hand and hugged her tight against his chest. “It is as true and as real as my heartbeat.”  
She could feel his calm heartbeat, which in turn calmed her down. Her smile softened. “Thank you.”  
“Nothing,” he said, stroking her head.  
They continued walking around while holding hands when Sienna suddenly let go and ran off towards something she had noticed.  
Sting ran after while following his nose. He found her accepting a bag with something in it and paying the person at the stall and immediately put his hand on her hip. “Sienna, what the hell?”  
“Sorry. I just smelled these delicious dumplings and wanted to buy them.” She smiled at him guiltily. “My nose just told me to go after them.”  
“You’re unbelievable. Imagine all the terrible things that could happen to you,” he said, more worried than anything though there was a trace of fondness in his eyes.  
She smiled at him eerily. “My dear Sting, who do you think has been looking after me for all those years?” She pointed at herself. “So, don’t worry. Okay?” She leant her right arm on his shoulder and played with some tufts of hair. “Because it is very unbecoming, and I really don’t like it. Definitely when I’m not in actual danger. I’m fine if you decide to be protective, but please don’t worry so much. Okay?”  
He nodded, stunned into silence.  
“Goodie. Now let’s eat these beauties up before they get cold.”  
His hand remained on her hip as lead her through the crowd.  
As the couple were walking, a voice from behind said, “Isn’t that that girl that got expelled years ago from Sabertooth?”  
“Yeah. You’re right. And now she’s with the new master. She sure has it good. He’s probably taking pity on her for some reason.”  
“He is a better master, so obviously it would be expected.”  
“Yeah. To go for someone as weak as her. In a way that is also pathetic.”  
Sting had tried to ignore the blabbering of the people behind him and Sienna, but the last one got to him, making him glare at the one responsible for the comment. And apparently not only him. Sienna had left his side once again and was now looming over the responsible one. She had him pinned to the ground, prepared to strike with a thorn that she had summoned out of the ground.  
“So, you think that my boyfriend’s pathetic, do you? And that I’m weak.”  
He glowered at her.  
“Answer her question,” Sting said with a dirty look. “I also want to know the answer.”  
He struggled. “If you hurt me, your guild will get into trouble.”  
“Nah. I’ll take personal responsibility. Why would I want to drag them down with me? So, answer me. Do you think I’m weak?”  
“No,” he finally said.  
“Good. Now if anyone else considers me so, you can take it up with me. I’m always up for a battle after all.” Then she got up and started walking to the bench area of the town. She sat down, her full attention on the dumpling bag and started digging in.  
Sting was sitting next to her, looking at her lovingly. “You really are amazing, princess.”  
She stopped chewing the food and looked at him surprised. Her brain was going haywire at not only the statement, but also the pet name. But most notably, at how it had been said. If her mouth hadn’t been full of food, she would have giggled. She quickly finished chewing her food and swallowed it. “Thank you,” she said in a small voice.  
A small blush formed on his cheeks. Cute wasn’t a word he would use to generally describe her, but she most definitely was being that at the moment. He stroked her cheek and kissed it.  
This in turn caused her to blush and turn away. Instead of saying anything more however, she continued nibbling her dumpling.  
He soon enough realised that there was a possibility that he had done something wrong. They had been apart for years after all. “Sienna, what’s wrong?” he asked tentatively.  
She shook her head. “Nothing. It’s just ... hafta get used to this, is all. I haven’t actually been that social in my time away, so all this is pretty new.” She continued nervously, “I mean, I know what to do and all. It’s just kinda embarrassing as well. And the fact that you’re so handsome definitely isn’t helping.”  
In turn his blush deepened, and he covered his face in his hands. “Dammit.”  
She giggled. “Sorry, Sting. It’s the truth.”  
He looked at her slightly annoyed. “You really are something else, Sienna.”  
“So?”  
He cupped her face and kissed her. “So, nothing. Just makes me want to be with you more.”  
Not only was her face now as red as a tomato, but her brain had gone on shut down as well.  
He grinned at her victoriously.  
She smiled at him lovingly and shook her head. “You’re such an idiot, Sting.” She straightened up and leant against his chest. “But yeah, it’s great being with you like this.”  
The rest of the day the couple had a nice day out together.


	19. Welcome home, Frosch

Weeks later Sting was looking at his guild mates from atop his throne in a stern way. “Take off your clothes.”  
The whole guild looked down in shame as they did as instructed.  
“Yeaaah! Our pool is finished!!!” Sting said jubilantly as he and his guild mates went to the pool area.  
“Congratulations,” Yukino said with a smile.  
“You’re almost too giddy, Sting,” Rogue commented.  
“Nonsense. Let our master be as giddy as he wants,” Sienna said from in the pool, smiling at her boyfriend affectionately.  
They jumped into the pool and Sting started splashing Yukino. “Wahahaha!! I bet you can’t think of any other guild that has a frickin’ pool, right?!”  
“Hey, come on, Master Sting!” she said.  
He turned around as he heard a sigh and someone uttering “Ridiculous” next to him. “Jealous?” he asked turning with a grin.  
She grinned in response. “Oh please. You’d have to do worse than that,” she said with a disbelieving smile.  
But as he looked at her, he was unable to register any of the words coming from her mouth. Four years really had made her look magnificent and just everything about her he wanted to make his. She really did look so appetizing in that swimsuit of hers. He laughed nervously, while blushing like crazy. “It really is hot in here. Though I know some other things which make it hotter even!”  
“Huh?”  
“Uuum…”  
Before the conversation could become any more awkward, Lector came running in hurriedly and said, “Sting!! Stiiing! Err…I mean, Master!!”  
“Cut it out with that master stuff, Lector. What’s all the panic about?” he asked, snapping back to reality and turning around.  
The Exceed said nervously, “We’ve got a huge problem!!! While I was out shopping, Frosch went missing!!”  
“What did you say?!!” Rogue said angrily. “Lector!! How could this happen?! Weren’t you supposed to be watching him?!”  
“I … I’m sorry …I took my eyes off him for just a second…”  
“Hey! Rogue!! That’s not fair putting all the blame on Lector!!!” Sting defended, closing in on Rogue.  
“What about Frosch…? Frosch doesn’t know how to get back here!” he shouted, getting right in his fellow Dragon Slayer’s face.  
“That’s not Lector’s fault!!!”  
They started pulling on each other’s hair and face and were soon enough pulled away from each other by their ears by a very serious looking Sienna. “I think this is hardly the time for bickering, don’t you?”  
“Of course,” Sting said nervously.  
Rogue nodded.  
Then she let the pair go and they all got changed to go look for the missing Exceed.

They went to the shopping area of town and Rogue started yelling Frosch’s name.  
“Huh? Look over there. Isn’t that…” Yukino noticed. “Gajeel!!”  
“Ah?”  
“Hey!! Did you see Frosch around here anywhere?!” Rogue shouted, getting right up in his face.  
“What the hell…?! Are you trying to pick a fight?”  
“Frosch got lost,” Lector explained.  
“Frosch? That frog?” The reason Gajeel mistook Frosch for a frog was because Frosch in fact had green skin and always wore a pink frog costume.  
“He’s a cat!!!”  
“Well … actually he’s an Exceed,” Panther Lily, Gajeel’s Exceed, clarified. “In that case, I saw him heading that way a while ago.”  
“You’re a lifesaver!”  
“Seriously. In more ways than one,” Sienna added considering how Gajeel had saved Rogue during the Grand Magic Games.  
“Let’s hurry!!”  
“Umm … thank you,” Yukino said.  
They continued shouting Frosch’s name until they walked into another member of Fairy Tail: Wendy. “Huh? Aren’t those the Saber-guys?” she said.  
“Lady Wendy!!”  
“Ohh!! What are you doing here?”  
“Thank you for everything back at the Grand Magic Games,” she said, bowing her head.  
“Weren’t they your opponents?” Carla, her Exceed, remarked.  
“Hey!!! You haven’t seen Frosch around here, have you!?!” Rogue shouted, getting into the girl’s face, and freaking her out.  
This caused Sting to sucker punch him into unconsciousness. “Can’t you calm yourself down a bit?! You’re talking to a girl here!!” he said angrily.  
“Frosch, you say…?” Wendy said.  
“Yes … the cat in the plush frog outfit…,” Yukino explained.  
“Cute cat,” Sienna corrected slightly distracted, transfixed by her boyfriend’s actions.  
“Oh, him? We saw him over that way earlier,” Carla said, pointing to the right.  
“Thank you so much!! Wooow … Carla … you’re sooo beautiful, aren’t you?” Lector praised, shaking her hands excitedly.  
They left the pair and Rogue continued shouting his Exceed’s name.  
Suddenly Yukino noticed something standing by a map of the city and pointed towards it. “Look over there!!”  
There looking at the map was Frosch. The group started happily walking towards the Exceed, but Rogue realised something and reached out his hand to stop his guild mates. But much to everyone’s shock and Yukino’s embarrassment, he grabbed onto one of her breasts.  
“Just what the hell do you think you’re doing, punk?!” Sting asked angrily while pummelling him in the face.  
“Yeah. I thought you were a classy guy, Rogue. Not someone who’d do something like that,” Sienna added with a disapproving look in her eyes.  
“It’s not … what you think…!! Sorry, Yukino…”  
“It’s … okay ….” Yukino said, crimson red and holding onto her chest.  
“But wait…look carefully over there…,” Rogue said weakly, pointing towards Frosch studying the map.  
“He’s looking at a map, ey,” Lector said.  
“Yeah!! He’s trying to get back to the guild by himself. Without anyone else’s help. I think the best thing to do here is to toughen up and let him grow up a bit. For Frosch’s sake.”  
“Frosch? Get back to the guild by himself?” Sting said doubtfully.  
“Impossible,” Lector agreed.  
“He’ll totally make it back!!!”  
“For now, let’s just sit back and watch,” Yukino said with a small smile.  
“Yeah. That sounds like fun.”  
Frosch started walking but was soon enough distracted by a butterfly.  
“Hmm? Isn’t that the Saber’s little guy…” Gray, who was walking around with Juvia, noticed.  
“Frosch?” Juvia knelt down. “Hey, what are you doing all the way out here?”  
“Shopping.”  
“By yourself? Wow, what a big boy,” Juvia said with a kind smile.  
“Fro think so too.” Suddenly tears started forming in its eyes.  
“What’s that all of a sudden?!” Gray said.  
“What’s wrong?”  
“Actually, I’m lost,” Frosch admitted tearfully.  
“Frooosch!!” Rogue said crying.  
“I guess we should help him now,” Sting said with a small smile.  
“Yeah,” Sienna and Lector agreed.  
“No!! I believe in Frosch. I just know he’ll be able to make it back to the guild by himself.”  
“Where’s your guild? I’ll walk you back,” Gray suggested.  
“You’re so sweet, Gray my darling,” Juvia said lovingly.  
“…Fro … will go home by himself. Fro is always getting lost like this… So Fro wants to be able to get home on his own.” It turned around and revealed the Sabertooth guild mark on its back. “See. After all, Fro is a member of Sabertooth too.”  
Gray smiled in understanding.  
“And somehow, I get the feeling that Rogue is cheering me on,” it said calmer.  
_Frosch,_ Rogue thought with a tear in his eye.  
“Well then, you’ve gotta give it your best,” Gray said.  
“Fro thinks so too,” Frosch said and then started walking again.  
The group smiled because of the Exceed’s determination to get back alone. Rogue even smirked at Sting.  
“Wipe that smug shiteating grin off your face!!”  
They continued following Frosch, who eventually, though getting distracted sometimes, ran into Erza. They couldn’t hear what they were talking about, but presumed she was giving directions. As time went on Frosch even started walking while half-asleep. Eventually Frosch made it to a guild hall. But unfortunately, it wasn’t the guild it had been looking for, but Fairy Tail’s.  
“This ain’t it, god damn it!” Rogue shouted.  
“Hey, Rogue,” Sienna said from beside him.  
“What?”  
“Can I lead Frosch home? I know you want him to grow and all, but it’s getting pretty late and it could be dangerous out there for him. I promise I’ll look after him.”  
“Yeah,” he said with a smile.  
“Thank you.” She walked over to the Exceed and knelt by him. “Hi there, Frosch.”  
“Hi, Sienna.”  
“It’s getting pretty late. How about we go home together? They say that’s there’s strength in numbers after all.”  
“Fro thinks so too,” Frosch said and accepted her hand.  
“Sting, you’re drooling,” Lector said.  
He looked at his best friend angrily and flustered as he wiped away the imaginary drool. “I am not!” He looked back at her with a loving smile. “But she’s really great, isn’t she?”  
“Yeah. Common, let’s go.”  
As the group were walking back, Lector suddenly thought of something. “Have you actually told her?”  
“Told her what?”  
He sighed. “That you love her.”  
A shockwave passed across Sting’s face. “Crap! How did I not think of that?! I spend so much time with her and everything and yet I’ve never said it. It makes sense because I want to pace everything, but still… She must think I’m a fool.”  
“I’m pretty sure she already thinks that.”  
Rogue and Yukino nodded their heads in agreement.  
“But I’ll tell her. Tell her soon. I love her and she also deserves to know that. But what will she say? Damn. It’s been so long. Maybe she doesn’t feel that strongly yet. I should wait.”  
As Sting continued blabbering, Yukino suddenly thought of something. “I don’t think you should worry about that, Master Sting. Just tell her.”  
“Are you sure?”  
“Yes.”

Later that evening the guild hall doors opened and Sienna entered, carrying Frosch who was sleeping soundly in her arms against her chest. The doors to the other room sprang open as Rogue quickly came and teary-eyed accepted his friend.  
“Be careful. He’s still asleep,” she whispered. “Fell asleep soon after we started walking and I decided to carry him.”  
“Thank you,” Rogue said, bowing in gratitude.  
“It’s nothing. Really. I just did what anyone would do. He needed a way to get home and I helped him. Nothing more.”  
Rogue nodded. Then he moved his friend to one arm and gave Sienna a one-armed hug. “You have no idea how happy any of us are that you’re back.” This caused Rogue to get another smack to the head.  
“What makes you think you can talk to my girlfriend like that?!” Sting asked angrily.  
“Relax, Sting. He was just saying something nice,” Sienna said calmly while holding a hand up in defence.  
“While hugging you.”  
Her smile turned loving. She walked up to him and loosely held onto one of his suspenders. “Who’s jealous now?”  
“I-I’m not jealous.”  
“Or is it protective,” she mused.  
He smiled down at her. “Yeah. That’s it. It’s not going anywhere unfortunately.”  
“How very unfortunate indeed. But I guess that’s what I get for dating a Dragon Slayer.”  
Now his hand was tracing her back. She was smiling at him so greatly. He knew he could say it. “I love you.”  
Her cheeks got a pink tinge as her smile broadened. “I love you too.”  
His face was plastered with a big goofy grin, before he hugged her tightly. After the hug, he continued looking at her and crashed his lips against his girlfriend’s, engulfing her in a passionate kiss.


	20. True nature

Sienna was casually looking through jobs when she got called to one of the meeting rooms by one of her guild mates. Apparently, a couple claiming to be her parents had come over and said they wanted to talk to her about something. The mere mention of her parents sent anger rushing through her veins, but she thought that she could just as well indulge them and listen to what they had to say.  
Sienna entered the room and knew straight away that the pair sitting hadn’t lied about who they were. Even though it had been more than ten years ago since she had seen them, she still remembered what they looked like clearly. She resembled her mother the most of all – same face shape, eye shape and now even height and a few minor things – but her resembles to her father was close to nil. No, it was nil. Even after all these years she couldn’t think of one way in which she and her father resembled each other. Which was good. The less she looked like the bastards sitting in front of her, the better.  
But there was one thing that made her look at them curiously. For a second, sure, but a second, nonetheless. The pleading looks in their eyes.  
She sauntered over to the sofa facing them and sat down, crossing her legs. Both her arms rested on the armrests, while her eyes carried nothing but disdain. Regal and deadly. She had learnt from the best. After making her parents sweat for a while with her gaze, she said sweetly, “So ... what brings you here?”  
“We wanted to talk...” her father began.  
“Obviously.”  
“About how sorry we are for how we treated you.”  
She chuckled humourlessly. “What? And you waited...” – she put up her fingers and pretended to count – “fifteen years. How nice. Sorry to break it to ya, but it’s a little too late.”  
“Sienna, please. Let us explain.”  
She put her elbow on her knee, resting her face on her fist and faced them with an expecting smile. “Sure.”  
“First thing’s first, I’m not your real father. Biologically I mean, though I guess it’s also true in the paternal sense.”  
“So what? You decided to treat me like crap ’cause someone else sired me? That doesn’t explain why that hag also went along with it,” she said, pointing towards her only biological parent with her thumb.  
“It was for your own protection.”  
She grinned darkly. “Oh really?”  
“Sienna, let him finish,” her mother put in.  
“Why don’t you continue, oh dear mother of mine?” Sienna said, turning her whole frame towards her.  
Her parents, if she could even call them that but did for matters of simplicity, looked at each other and the man who failed to raise her nodded.  
“It’s a long and shocking story, so keep your comments till afterwards.”  
“I won’t make any promises,” she said coldly, though intrigued by what they thought could possibly shock her.  
“Ok. I will begin by simply saying that your true father is a Nature Spirit.”  
Sienna scoffed but for the rest remained silent.  
“Unbelievable, I know but it is true. And he was a handsome one at that. Probably still is with his longevity.” She could see the question burning in Sienna’s eyes – which the Mage didn’t know how to ask – and said, “I do not know. You will probably have a longer lifespan than humans, but not as long as the Nature Spirits.”  
Sienna could feel the tears burning in her eyes. Of sadness or anger she didn’t know. But what she did know was that if she didn’t die an unnatural cause, if she didn’t die by someone’s hands or anything like that, she would live longer than Sting. She would... Oh crap. She needed air. It felt like it was leaving her. But she couldn’t show these people. She had to stay strong. Strong like the man she loved. Yes. He was strong. He wouldn’t die that easily. That was a fact. She calmed herself and listened on.  
The woman had seen her almost panic for some reason but had thought better than to comment on it. She continued, “It happened when Joshua and I were having a strained relationship. I had difficulties with it, but always felt better when I was outside. Then I ran into him. He was so handsome, almost divine and considering what he was it came to no surprise. He made me feel happy in my time of sorrow. And the more time passed, the more compelled I felt to be with him. It was almost like I had been under some kind of spell. And then it happened. Just for one moment I experienced what could only be described as true bliss.” She looked apologetically towards the man sitting beside her, but he didn’t seem to mind. “Unfortunately, it turned out that we couldn’t be together for the long run and that he had to go back home to be with his kind. Of course, I knew that it had been bound to happen sooner or later, but it still hurt. When he left, I already knew that I was pregnant and told him as much. He told me that the child would be strong as long as they were surrounded by nature and love.”  
“Love, you say?” It came out more as a growl than anything else.  
“Yes. I know. We were not what you would call loving. But like Joshua said, it was to protect you. Nobody knew that you were not a pure human and we preferred to keep it that way. That is why we treated you the way we did – to keep them away from you and your powers dormant. And then you ran away, to the calling of nature and we thought it best to keep it that way.”  
“Why tell me this? Why tell me any of this?” Now Sienna was shaking and there was absolutely no doubt in her mind that it was from anger.  
“To warn you.”  
“Warn me from what?”  
Just before she could answer, the door swung open and the Guild Master appeared. He took one look at his shaking girlfriend and gave them the death glare. “Out,” he ordered.  
“Who-” Joshua started, but was cut off by Sting stepping closer enough to whisper in his ear, “Out. Don’t speak to her or come near her again. Or I’ll kill you.” When he pulled back Joshua had paled, and Sting was smiling sinisterly at him.  
The woman beckoned her husband to come with her and said while opening the door, “I am glad you found someone who loves you.”  
“Yeah. Which means that he will hurt you more than you can believe if you continue flapping your gums like that and don’t get out of my sight,” he threatened.  
She nodded and closed the door behind her and her husband.  
The moment he was sure they were gone; Sting went over to his girlfriend who was now sitting hunched over and it seemed like her face had lost some of its colour. He wrapped his arms around her and caressed her in a bear hug.  
She started sobbing from everything that had just been said to her, making him tighten his hug and nuzzle her head.  
As the tears streamed down her face, Sienna could still remember the voices she had heard coming from outside her house before running away. On repeat they had said: “Your home life is bad and unloving. Come to us.” However, even when she had searched for days on end, she hadn’t found anyone. She had almost gone back home but the feeling at ease from the woods had caused her to stay there.  
She presumed now that it had been some Nature Spirits. She hoped that one day she would figure out why.


	21. Desire

As time passed and the couple talked about more serious things. Sting finally found the courage to ask Sienna about something that he had been dreading to ask. “So ... um ... sorry if this is painful. I know you told me you didn’t remember anything. But maybe the memories resurfaced or something. Do you remember who attacked you?” They were sitting next to each other on a bench in the guild hall.  
Sienna looked down. “No,” she lied.  
_Same answer as before. But now I can see that she’s lying. Why would she?_ “Sienna, you can tell me. There’s nothing to be scared about.”  
“Apart from the fact that you might go on a rampage when I tell you. Or be really confused.” She looked him straight in the eyes and saw how much he wanted to know, so she sighed and said, “Promise me you won’t freak out.”  
“I promise,” he said begrudgingly.  
“It was Minerva.” She saw the confusion and anger wash over his face and chose to add, “It wasn’t her decision. Apparently Jiemma thought that I was still too weak to be part of Sabertooth, so he pretty much sent her over to take me down and then I’d get expelled.”  
Sting growled. “That bastard. I can’t believe he’d ask something like that of her. And that she’d do it.”  
Sienna noticed that Sting’s respect for the Mage was slipping. “She was still so young, Sting. You can hardly blame her.”  
“Yeah, but still...” He was silent for a while until something hit him. “During the Grand Magic Game’s Naval Battle, you ran off looking really pale. Was that because it made you think of then?” He had placed both hands apart next to her knees and was staring her seriously in the eyes.  
Even though the thought of the event felt terrible, having her boyfriend so close to her made her feel better. “Yes,” she said in a soft voice.  
He growled. What was he going to do? Punish Minerva when he found her or something else? In all his time in Sabertooth with her, he had never thought anything truly bad of her. And yet ... yet she had hurt the woman he loved. In many ways that was a one trip to the guillotines in his book. But he knew he needed the opinion of the most important person involved. “What do you think of her now?”  
“I think she’s capable of change if she gets away from her father. She isn’t an inherently bad person. She just got raised by one.”  
He rested his forehead against hers. “You really are too great for this world.”  
“Look who’s talking,” she said in a higher than usual voice.  
A grin spread across his lips as he groaned. “You shouldn’t talk to your master like that.”  
Now her cheeks were getting red and she bit her lip. “You really pick the worst times to remind me that you are my master,” she said with a smile. She moved her hands up to his jacket and pulled him, so their mouths were centimetres apart. “But funnily enough I don’t mind.”  
“Very funny indeed,” he said and gave her a smooch.

Later that day, Sting was moping at the bar with a pensive look on his face since Sienna had gone out on a job, without him yet again. It wasn’t like he thought it necessary to go on every single job with her, though he wanted to, but to go with her once in a while would be nice. At least this one was close by and it was a fairly simple one. She would be back in no time. And then ... crap. For some time now his brain had been going haywire every time they had been truly close to each other. Not only that, but he had also felt things. He knew it was natural, of course. But that still didn’t stop him from hating it. He wanted to be respectful and wait for when she was ready, if ever. Not jump her the first chance he got.  
“Hey, Sting.”  
He snapped out of his thought process and looked at Rogue with a serious expression. “What?”  
“What’s wrong?”  
“He’s missing Sienna, of course,” Lector said while nodding.  
He scowled while a blush appeared on his cheeks. “Not funny, Lector.”  
“Really, that’s all?”  
“Yeah. So, if you don’t mind, I’ve got other stuff to do.” He walked off and found the person he had been looking for: Yukino. “Hey, Yukino.”  
“Hello, Master Sting.”  
“Can I ask you something kinda strange,” he said, looking at the floor uncomfortably while rubbing his head.  
“Of course,” she replied with a kind smile.  
“When do you think is the right time ... for two people ... to ... do it.” With every word his cheeks became redder.  
Yukino’s cheeks followed her conversation partner’s suit as she realised what he was asking. “I don’t know. It’s up to the two of you. You have to be sure she wants it and then you can go for it.”  
“Yeah. Thanks. I just don’t know. I love her so much and don’t want to screw it up in any kinda way.”  
“She would understand. Just make sure that if she’s not ready that you take those feelings into consideration, Master Sting.”  
“’Course.”  
“And maybe a romantic setting wouldn’t hurt.”  
“Romantic, huh?”  
He went back to the dining place of the guild hall and started thinking of any potential places he could take his girlfriend. Hours passed and she still hadn’t returned. Crap, why was it always so agonising waiting for her? Or was it because he was thinking of something else?  
He sighed. It would be useless anyway to try today. She would probably be exhausted after her job. She would most likely have a nice long, relaxing bath and then go to bed. He smiled as he thought of it. But when it hit him what he had been thinking about, he shot up in his chair and said annoyed while holding onto his head, “Aaah, why am I thinking about that?! What am I, some kinda pervert?!”  
“And he’s lost it,” Lector commented from atop the table.  
“Fro thinks so too.”  
“Sting, just ask her. The worst she will probably do is say no and you won’t think anything bad of that,” Rogue put in.  
He lay back down on the table. “Yeah. But what if she thinks I’m some freak for wanting that of her? I’m scared.”  
“She won’t. She knows you love her.”  
“Yeah. That I do.” Eventually as the hall started clearing out, Sting entered dreamland. While he was sleeping, he felt a peck on his forehead. He turned around to face his girlfriend with a smile.  
“Seeing you sleeping like this is probably one of the best gifts to get after a successful job,” she said, wrapping her arms around him.  
“Nice to know I’m such a gift,” he said, holding onto her arms.  
“That you most definitely are,” she whispered in his ear. She eyed him curiously and moved her mouth further downwards, then took his earlobe between her lips and tugged it downwards slightly.  
He ground his teeth together to suppress a groan that was now threatening to escape. But now understood all too well that she wanted the same. He turned to face her with a smile. “Hey, Sienna.” His voice had turned husky.  
“Yes, honey?” she said.  
“If I said I wanted to make you mine in another way, would you object?”  
“Oh, my dear Sting, of course I wouldn’t,” she responded in a sultry voice.  
He grinned. This was going to be fun. He moved her arms to his right and while he stood up pulled her over his shoulders, making her yelp in excitement. As he went up the stairs to the bedrooms, Sienna started playing with his suspenders. His free hand went to hers. “Looks like someone’s more eager than I thought.”  
“Yeah, well, it’s fun dragging it out like that. Those growls now and then are just too great. Meaning, yeah, you could’ve had me any time you wanted. But I liked to make you wait.”  
He pushed the centre of her hand, making it open and then traced it. “You choose the worst moments to be a sadist.”  
“I’d say best. So, master’s bedroom?”  
“Yes.” The Dragon Slayer said and kicked open the door to his own bedroom.

Sting was looking at Sienna who was now lying on his chest as he happily – happier than he had ever been – ran his fingers through her hair. It had been awkward in some ways, but overall, really good and he was looking forward to more moments like that. He just really, really loved her. Loved spending time with her. Loved doing anything with her.  
His gaze landed on her neck. Even that part looked appetising, in a different way than the rest of her body. Though maybe over time… “Hey, Sienna.” His voice sounded husky. She moved her head to look up at him. “Yeah, baby?”  
He thought of how to word it best. “If I said I wanted to mark you, what would you say?”  
“Hm?” came out in a high-pitched tone.  
He grinned at her. He had her. He moved so his mouth was right next to her ear. “I want to mark you, princess. On that pretty little neck of yours.”  
A blush started blossoming on her cheeks. Everything about her was screaming yes, but her mouth couldn’t form the word. “Um… Um…”  
He looked at her while towering from above. “Yes, princess?”  
All she could do was nod before looking away shyly.  
He gently moved her head to face him. His smirk and the impish look in his eyes betrayed that he was truly enjoying himself. “If I’d known you wanted it this much, I would’ve asked earlier.”  
Her blush grew even deeper. “Shut up, you idiot! Just do it before I change my mind!”  
Sting cocked his head slightly. “Does that mean you don’t want it?”  
A part of her had difficulty believing this was the man she loved. Another part was enjoying this much more than she ever thought she would. “N-no. I want it, okay. Hundred percent. Yes.”  
He moved his mouth to the centre of her neck. “As you wish, princess.”

The next morning the couple arrived in the dining hall grinning like fools – with a dark purple mark on Sienna’s lower neck.  
Lector looked at the pair, still recovering from the trauma of last night. The poor Exceed had been paid no heed when they had entered the master’s bedroom and he had only realised something was up in the middle of it all. This had made Lector run as fast as his little legs could carry him to Rogue’s room. There he had covered his head under a blanket, trying to forget everything he had heard and seen.  
Sienna and Sting went over to the bar and ordered some breakfast.  
Sting greeted his best friend with a smile and Lector returned the greeting in a slightly shaky voice.  
“What’s wrong, buddy?” Sting asked confused.  
“I was sleeping in your room last night when you...”  
Sting rubbed his head in embarrassment. “Sorry,” he said, still grinning.  
Sienna gave her boyfriend an incredulous look, considering his incapability at apologising properly. She said kindly, “We really are sorry, Lector. Should’ve warned you or told you we were there.”  
Lector shook his head. “It’s all right. I understand.”  
“Yeah. That she is mine,” Sting said, grabbing his girlfriend by the waist and pulling him closer to him and kissing her on the brow.  
A slight tinge entered Sienna’s cheeks. “I hate you.”  
“Wrong words, babykins. Repeat after me, ‘I love you, Master Sting,’” he ground the order into her ear.  
The shade in her cheeks darkened as she smiled softly and said, “I love you, Master Sting.”  
“Good girl,” he said and kissed her again, this time passionately on the lips. “I love you too, princess.”


	22. Plan of action

It was just another normal in the Sabertooth guild hall when a letter arrived for its master. He opened it and scanned through it. He looked at it but wasn’t able to decipher the scribbling that one would refer to as handwriting. He showed it to his team to see whether they could, but it also seemed illegible to most of them. Yukino even fainted out of shock considering it looked more like a curse than anything. Eventually Rufus took the job and through it all he managed to decipher it: apparently Minerva had joined a Dark Guild called Tartaros.  
Sting looked at his girlfriend for a second. She was looking seriously at the letter. Then she snatched it out of Rufus’s hands and ripped it into shreds.  
“Such a disgrace to paper, to the tree it came from,” she said disdain.  
Everyone looked at her open-mouthed, Sting eventually bringing his hand to his head and sighing with a smile. “Can I talk to you?”  
“Sure,” she said and let herself be lead to a more private place to talk. “What’s up?”  
“So, me and Rogue...” he started nervously.  
“Are gonna go and rescue Minerva. Yeah. Got it. Go,” she told him. “Don’t keep her waiting. She’s already been doing so for long enough. Can’t keep doing so for any longer now, can we?” she said with a smile. “And if you’re worried about what happened in the past, don’t. I’m fine with her being back again. Really.”  
He leant down and kissed her on her forehead while holding onto the bottom of her chin. “You are really the best kind of girlfriend.”  
All she could was stand with her mouth slightly agape as he smiled down at her.  
He grinned. “What’s wrong?”  
Her cheeks turned a shade darker as she lightly slapped him. “Nothing. You should just go.”  
“Sure. Though I do wonder, would you rather have my lips somewhere else then?” he said dreamily, moving his lips down to her ear.  
She bit her lip and lightly slapped him on his abs. “Maybe when you get back. Alive,” she said in a higher voice, feeling her body weaken.  
“With something like that to look forward to, I can’t go die,” he said with a grin. Then he lowered his head and kissed her goodbye. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”  
She gave him an incredulous smile. “Look who’s talking.”  
He grinned, gave her one last peck on the cheek and went to his friends.


	23. Tartaros

Sting and Rogue flew as fast as they could to where they were sure Minerva was. On their way over they saw countless statues of big faces that had come up out of the ground. They reached the Tartaros base, which had been crashed to the ground.  
They landed at the base and as it turned out just in time as Minerva, donning a demonic appearance, got blasted. Sting managed to catch her with no problems and revealed himself along with Rogue to Mard Geer, The Underworld King.  
“Why are you here...?” Erza, who had been battling Minerva moments ago, asked.  
Sting carefully put Minerva against a broken wall and said, “Didn’t you send us a letter, Erza?”  
“Eh?” She thought back and indeed realised that she had sent Sabertooth a letter after finding out what Minerva had been up to.  
“By the way, Erza, the way you wrote that letter is ... kinda...” Lector started.  
“It sucked,” Frosch said without holding back.  
“Uh?”  
“Yeah. Sorry. But because of that it kinda looked like a crazy person wrote it. And ... that handwriting, it made me sick,” Lector added.  
“Poor, Yukino. She tried to read it and passed out.”  
“And then Sienna ripped it after we finally managed to figure out what it said. She even said it was a disgrace to paper, to the tree it came from.”  
“Only Rufus could decipher it,” Rogue said. “Even he was nearly driven insane.”  
The insults to Erza’s handwriting made her start blushing in embarrassment.  
“We would’ve arrived sooner but...”  
“Say no more,” she said, understanding the message.  
Sting looked at his guild mates with a smile and said to Minerva, “Milady, please come back to the guild with us.”  
Tears were streaming down her eyes. She really wanted to go home, but she needed to know something first. “Hasn’t Sienna told you?”  
“Yes. But we still both want you back.”  
“Back to your guild?” Mard Geer asked. “The wizard world will end. But I don’t mind, I won’t stop you.”  
“Face was destroyed.” Erza was referring to an all-powerful weapon in the shape of a face that could nullify all magic across the continent.  
“Just one.”  
Erza looked at him in shock.  
“Erza, on the way here we saw many eerie face-shaped statues,” Sting informed.  
“If that is Face, there are really lots of them.”  
“What?!”  
“One hour. In one hour, all faces will be activated. About 3000 magic pulse bombs ... will erase all magic from this continent.”  
“No way!”  
“What do you mean?!”  
“...” Was all Rogue could say.  
“All magic will vanish from the continent...?” Lector said nervously.  
“Fro won’t be able to fly anymore?”  
“Heheh.” Minerva was smiling slightly. “It’s a bluff. Face can’t be remotely controlled. It’s impossible to activate 3000 of them at the same time.”  
“If I remember correctly, the president should have the authority to allow remote control...”  
“That person died.”  
“Our guild has a Necromancer. He’s controlling the dead president ... and having him activate face from the control room,” Mard Geer said with a confident smile.  
“That’s...”  
“Erza, go,” Sting said with a serious look.  
“?!”  
“Stop Face.”  
“Leave this to us.”  
“But...”  
“Take care of the Lady, Lector and Frosch. They’ll be fine with you.”  
“We’ll defeat him.”  
“Some humans are really amusing. Do you think simple humans can defeat the Underworld King?”  
“I do,” Sting said and attacked along with Rogue. Their first attacks were enough to distract Mard Geer enough for Erza to escape along with Minerva, Lector and Frosch.  
With twenty minutes remaining before Face's detonation, Natsu and Igneel – his foster father – fought Mard Geer and Acnologia, respectively. Sting and Rogue arrived on the battlefield and joined Natsu, who reluctantly accepted and pushed Mard Geer back with their assistance. Enraged, Mard Geer put E.N.D.'s book down to use the full extent of his curse power to survive the Dragon Slayers’ attacks.  
Mard Geer revealed that the true purpose of the Etherious demons created by Zeref was to kill their creator, and that they aimed to eradicate magic in Earth-land to lift the seal on E.N.D.'s book. Gray arrived and used his new demon-slaying magic on Mard Geer, which proved to be effective. Mard Geer summoned a flower containing Jiemma, who had been transformed into a demon mightier than the Nine Demon Gates. Sting and Rogue started fighting their former master, allowing Natsu and Gray to focus on battling Mard Geer in his Etherious form. Sting and Rogue were to destroy Jiemma, professing that Sabertooth had improved since his removal from the guild.  
Meanwhile, Natsu and Gray continued their fight with Mard Geer, who performed his ultimate curse, Memento Mori, to erase the two from existence. With Natsu and Gray seemingly destroyed, Mard Geer declared that he would use the curse to kill Zeref.  
Natsu and Gray emerged from the rubble left by Mard Geer's curse, having survived due to Gray having taken on a partial demonic form and taking the brunt of the attack for Natsu. After Gray collapsed, Natsu entered a natural Dragon Force state and performed one final onslaught on Mard Geer. But he ran out magic power to continue fighting the demon. However, Natsu revealed himself to be a decoy for Gray, who shot Mard Geer down with an arrow of demon-slaying ice. Despite Igneel having seemingly defeated Acnologia as well, Face's countdown reaches zero. With Fairy Tail's ally guilds unable to dismantle the bombs, the dragon guardians of Gajeel, Wendy, Sting, and Rogue emerged and destroyed Face.  
After the dragons destroyed the bombs across Ishgar, Face was deactivated, saving Earth-land from destruction. Acnologia gained a second wind and resumed his fight with Igneel, leaving Natsu and Gray to argue over whether to destroy E.N.D.'s book. However, Zeref arrived to retrieve the book and killed Mard Geer before vanishing. Igneel revealed that he and the other dragons had sealed themselves within the dragon slayers to immunize them from becoming dragons like Acnologia, and to have the opportunity of killing Acnologia themselves. Igneel bit off Acnologia's arm, but Acnologia mercilessly killed the fire dragon, to Natsu's horror.  
Following Igneel's death, the surviving dragons revealed that their souls had already been stolen by Acnologia. Before they pass on to the afterlife, they all have an emotional farewell. Instead of saying something sentimental however, Weisslogia comments on another scent around Sting. This caused Sting to proudly say that he has a girlfriend and that he wished that they could have had the chance to meet. They passed on to the afterlife alongside Igneel, leaving the Dragon Slayers yet again. A heartbroken Natsu vowed to become strong enough to kill Acnologia and avenge his father.


	24. Reconciliation

A week later the Sabertooth Mages made it back to their guild. Everyone jubilantly welcomed Minerva back. Sienna on the other hand first went for Sting and gave him a hug and a kiss. She was still holding onto him when she turned to Minerva and said, “Welcome back home, Lady Minerva.”  
Minerva’s tears had already been forming in her eyes, but this set her off entirely. She looked at the Nature Mage and much to everyone’s surprise bowed deeply. “I’m so sorry I hurt you. I don’t deserve your welcome.”  
Sienna let go of Sting and walked over to her. “Lift your head up,” she said in a soft voice.  
Minerva tentatively did as requested.  
“You know, as scared as I was of you after those events, I never blamed you. I know it was undoubtedly part of Jiemma’s plan or he had made you think that way. I had the option of running away and finding a better life outside, you didn’t. You survived all the abuse he put you through and you became an amazing Mage. You did do some questionable things, but the thing was, you’d never been taught any better. If you’re led to believe those things will get you what you want, obviously you will do them no matter the consequences. But I don’t hold anything against you, Lady Minerva. And I’m definitely not any worse for wear from that. So, let’s just keep it in the past, okay?”  
Before she knew it, Minerva was hugging the Nature Mage. “Thank you.”  
“Um … it’s nothing,” Sienna said, awkwardly reciprocating the hug.  
Sting on the other hand was grinning like crazy. “I’m really dating the most amazing woman out there.”


	25. Sweet surprise

Couple’s Day. Damn. Sienna should have seen it coming. But stupidly enough of course she hadn’t. So now Sienna was pacing, wondering what the hell to do. It wasn’t like it was tomorrow or something; she still had some time at least. But the day was still coming closer. _Dammit,_ she though.  
She snuck as well as she could to where she hoped Yukino would be. So when she got touched on the shoulder, she almost jumped out of her skin. She looked behind her to see her boyfriend grinning at her. It really was one of those things she couldn’t get enough of. It was so bright and warm. She loved it. “Sting.” His name came out in one breath.  
He looked at her surprised, then confused. “You alright?”  
She vigorously nodded her head. “Yeah. Fine. Just looking for Yukino.”  
“Are you sure? You seem kinda on edge.”  
She gave him an awkward smile. “Yeah.” She rubbed her head awkwardly. “Think I didn’t get much sleep last night.” _Sorry, baby. I hate lying, but this is important._  
He looked at her worriedly. “You have a nightmare? You should’ve woken me.”  
She shook her head again. “No. Just not tired.” She gently caressed his cheek and stroked it with her thumb. “So, don’t worry, okay, baby?”  
He touched her forehead with his and nodded against her. “Yeah. Want me to help find her?”  
She smiled softly. “No. I’m capable enough of finding her myself, don’t you think?”  
He let out a soft chuckle. “Yeah.” He gave her a quick peck on the lips. “Have fun.”  
There was something so soothing about those actions that she could feel her legs buckle slightly.  
Of course, he noticed it and smirked at her. “Something wrong, princess?”  
She vigorously shook her head. “No.” She pushed him lightly. “Just go.” She hoped there wasn’t a blush forming on her cheeks, though the heat in them told her otherwise.  
He buried his mouth in her cheek. She could feel the smile on his lips before he said, “Will do, princess.” Then he kissed her one last time before leaving with a satisfied smile.  
Now there was a definite blush on her cheeks. She covered her face in her hands and let out a muffled scream.  
“Are you okay, Lady Sienna?” Yukino asked with a hint of concern to her voice.  
Sienna quickly uncovered her face to look up at the Celestial Spirit Mage. “Yukino, there you are.” She shook her head slightly. “Fine. Sting was just being an idiot.” She straightened up and looked her in the eyes. “Can I ask you something?”  
Now Yukino’s facial features creased in confusion. “Yeah, sure.”  
“Couple’s Day,” she said in a hushed voice. “Dunno what to do.”  
“Oh. Um … do you know how to cook?”  
Sienna blinked slightly in confusion. “Cook? Yeah, guess. So should make something for him then.” She nodded slowly. Then her face creased with annoyance. “But dunno what,” she groaned. “He doesn’t have a favourite dish and he’d eat anything.”  
“Maybe chocolates. I heard that’s a common thing to give to your partner on Couple’s Day.”  
Sienna’s eyes widened in realisation. “Oh, yeah. Chocolates. Of course. Thanks, Yukino.” She started walking towards the exit. “Should find the ingredients.” She stopped and turned to look at Yukino. “You think there’s a way to stop him from going near the kitchens?”  
“I doubt he would go near them,” Minerva said from behind her. “So, you’re going to make chocolates for him, huh.”  
“Yeah.” She spun around and looked at Minerva. “You know how to make them?”  
Minerva smiled knowingly. “Yes. I could show you if you like.”  
Sienna nodded vigorously. “Yes, please. Thank you, Lady Minerva.”


	26. The ball

When the day finally came, Sienna was starting to get seriously nervous. There was no reason to be, the chocolates she had made with Minerva were good. They were even heart shaped.  
Now she was going over to Minerva’s room, ready to collect the present for her boyfriend. She knocked on the door. It wasn’t loud, but still loud enough for the Territory Mage to hear.  
She opened the door. “Sienna, good morning.”  
“Good morning, Lady Minerva. Do you have the chocolates?”  
“Yes. Come in.”  
She entered the room and noticed much to her surprise that Minerva was already dressed. In something much fancier than what she had ever worn before. “Lady Minerva, why are you dressed like that?” she asked confused. “I mean … you look good, but…”  
Minerva gave Sienna a knowing smile. “It’s a surprise.” She picked up a dress; the same one Sienna had worn during the grand banquet. “Just put this on.”  
“Ok,” she said unsurely, confused. She accepted the dress and turned around to get dressed. Once she was done, she swished the bottom of her dress around. “I forgot how nice this dress is.” She looked up to Minerva and smiled. “Can I now have the chocolates?”  
“Of course.” She used her magic and the bag of chocolates appeared out of thin air. “Here you go.”  
“Thank you.” She took the chocolates and started walking downstairs, sure that her boyfriend was there somewhere. He hadn’t been in bed, so it was only logical.  
As Sienna was walking downstairs, with Minerva close behind her, she could hear a multitude of voices. She smiled slightly. _Nice and rowdy first thing in the morning._ Once she reached the guild hall, her mouth fell open. It was decorated in all kinds of colours, dark green included. She was frozen on the spot. What was going on?  
“Is there something the matter?” Minerva asked behind her.  
“What is this?” she asked in a small voice.  
“I told you, didn’t I? It’s a surprise. Common, let’s go.” Minerva beckoned Sienna to come further. When they finally made it to the main hall, Sienna saw that the whole of Sabertooth were dressed in fancy clothing. Including … her boyfriend.  
Sienna opened her mouth to say something, but instead of words a high-pitched peep escaped her mouth. She felt like crying, even more so when he brought her into a hug and kissed her cheek. “Happy Couple’s Day, babykins.”  
She buried her head in his shoulder. She was somewhere between laughing and crying. “You’re such an idiot.”  
His smile broadened before he pulled out of the hug and kissed her. “And who’s idiot am I?”  
She was looking at him with the fullest of love when she said, “Mine.” She shyly looked at her chocolates. “I made you something,” she said in a small voice.  
A small blush dusted his cheeks. Sting had been so caught up in creating the best Couple’s Day for his girlfriend that he hadn’t considered that she would do something for him. He slowly reached out and took them tentatively. “Thank you.”  
She giggled and ruffled the back of his hair. “Happy Couple’s Day, baby.”  
He was grinning so broadly now that it looked like his grin would reach his eyes. He pulled her in for another kiss, this one much deeper. When he finally decided to release her, he asked, “Wanna dance?”  
She gave him an incredulous smile. “Could try. Don’t know how good I’m at it, though.”  
“Doesn’t matter. I’ll be here to help you.”  
She giggled. “Sure thing, Master Sting.”  
For some reason, his face turned into the perfect picture of childlike embarrassment. Anything childlike soon dissolved when he said, “Shut up,” in her ear in a playful commanding voice.  
She smiled at him in slight amusement. She considered the words before she kissed his cheek and said in his ear, “Of course, Master.”  
Sting was somewhere between surprised and pleased by Sienna’s response. Sure she sometimes called him ‘Master Sting’, even ‘Master’ whenever she felt like it, but for her to just call him by his title after he gave her an order, even if it was in a playful manner, was something they usually only did behind closed doors. He smiled at her affectionately and said in her ear, “Good girl.”  
She giggled slightly but didn’t say anything.  
Music started playing and the guild members went off in pairs to start dancing with one another. After dancing for a bit, with surprisingly no toe-stepping from either party, Sting said, “Hey, Sienna.” He said in her ear, “You can talk now.”  
“Yeah, Sting?” she asked in a soft voice.  
“Can we go out for a sec?”  
She nodded, intrigued by what her boyfriend wanted. Did he want to continue what had been going on near the beginning of the ball, or do something else? She guessed only time would tell.  
He led her outside, their fingers loosely intertwined. “Oh yeah, forgot to say,” he looked at her with a grin, “you look beautiful.”  
She looked at him fondly. “Thank you, Sting.” She loosely moved her thumb and forefinger of her free hand across his jacket collar. “But I have to say, probably nowhere near as beautiful as you,” she said in a dreamy voice. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek. “But then again that’s just my opinion.”  
As expected, a blush started forming on his cheeks, which caused Sienna to giggle in approval. He sighed with a smile and shook his head slightly. Before they exited the front doors, he pulled her in for a hug. His left hand was on her head, his right one had gone to lightly holding onto her arm and he had buried his head in her neck. He didn’t say or do anything for the seconds that came, he just hugged her.  
And she just stood there, unsure of what to do or what had been the cause for this. Eventually she got enough hold of herself to slowly move her left hand up and stroke his head. “Sting, baby, are you okay?”  
“Yeah.” He’d moved his head, so it was in her shoulder, so the word came out muffled. He straightened up. He tried to mask the previous event of his face, though it was still obvious in his eyes. However, he didn’t say anything and opened the door to the outside.  
The good thing about the guild hall’s size was that it was so big that even outside the main doors; it took a while to see non-guild members. This of course meant total privacy for the couple.  
Sting let out a long sigh. He was starting to get nervous for no reason. Dammit. The ball had been simple and at least the rest of his guild mates had been there. But now it was time for the actual gift, his heart was starting to want to escape his chest.  
Then two soft hands made contact with his cheeks. He looked down and saw the woman he loved looking at him with a reassuring smile.  
He reached into his pocket and held onto the box within it. Before he took it out, he gave her a soft kiss on the forehead. “I love you,” he said tenderly. Then he took out the box and gave it to her.  
Sienna accepted it, shacking slightly as she did so. Then she opened the box and saw a small metal bracelet with the engraving ‘I’ll love you for eternity, My Love.’ Again, tears started forming in her eyes. However, this time she was also shaking her head. “I can’t accept this,” she said in a wavering voice.  
Immediate concern entered Sting’s face. “What?”  
“I can’t … accept this.” The tears were obvious in her eyes, but they weren’t falling. “Why do you have to be like this, Sting?”  
He wanted to pull her into another hug, but kept his distance for now as he said, “Like what?”  
“So … perfect. Like not, dictionary perfect, but just such a perfect boyfriend. In all ways. You threw a fricking ball for me. Like no sane boyfriend would do that. And I just gave you chocolates. Like … if I knew you were gonna do this, I dunno, I would’ve done more or tried to. Dammit.”  
This time he did pull her into a hug. He gently rubbed her back as he tried to console her. “It’s alright, love. And you know, you made those chocolates, while I just spent money on all these things, so it’s kinda equal if you ask me.”  
She held onto his jacket with one hand. “Don’t lie, you idiot.”  
He shook his head. “Not lying. We just have a different way of showing how we love each other.” He moved his right hand to hold her chin and kissed her brow. “So please don’t be upset, love.”  
A small scream escaped her lips. “I hate you.”  
He kissed her cheek gently. “Babykins, wrong words,” he said playfully centimetres from her ear.  
She moved her hands from between them and pulled him into a kiss. “I love you so much, Sting.”  
His face turned bright red at mention of the extra words. Mainly because in their time of dating each other those words hadn’t been added before. “I love you so much as well.” He went in for a kiss, this one much deeper than any before today. A small part of his brain was telling him however, that first Sienna should put the bracelet on. So, the moment he separated his lips from hers, he said, “Bracelet.”  
She gave him an amused smile. Got out the bracelet – with her arms still around his neck – and put it on. “Happy, Master?”  
“Very,” he said and took her back into the deep kiss.

After the couple had spent time in each other’s arms, they went back inside and continued with the ball. Sienna’s new bracelet reflected the light in the guild hall, making it obvious for everyone else to see.  
Later that day, once everyone had gone to bed, including the couple, Sting shot up. He started shaking his girlfriend eagerly, “Hey, Sienna, Sienna, get up.”  
She looked at him with tired eyes. “What?”  
“Let’s go to the pool.”  
Even though he obviously couldn’t see it, she gave him a bemused quizzical smile. “Why?”  
“It’ll be fun, right?”  
She straightened herself up slightly. “In what way?”  
“Just come. Please.”  
She huffed a laugh. “Fine.” She got out of bed and switched on the light. When she looked at him, she could still see the obvious eagerness in his eyes, which caused her to smile at him affectionately. “I’m going to get my swimming suit and put it on. I’ll meet you again here later, okay.”  
He nodded. “Yeah.”  
“Maybe I should bring my clothes over to here, since I spend all my nights here anyway,” she said distractedly.  
“Yeah,” Sting agreed shyly.  
The moment Sienna left the room, she smiled softly with a light dancing in her eyes. She held back a giggle. She had to be careful – no one was allowed to see her after all. She quickly snuck into her room and put on her swimming suit.  
Soon after there was a soft knock on her door. She opened it and looked at the perpetrator with squinted eyes. “I thought I said that I’d be coming to your room, you idiot.”  
Because of the light of her room, she could see his jubilant smile. “Sorry, couldn’t wait.” At least he was already wearing his trunks.  
She shook her head in exhaustion and started closing her door behind her. When it was open just a creek, she switched her light off and interlocked her hand with Sting’s.  
So, the couple started walking slowly, careful not to make a sound. When they finally made it to the pool, Sting was the first to jump in and broke the silence in the process.  
This time Sienna did let out a giggle and followed suit. Not a second later, Sting started splashing her. She shielded her face with one hand while she tried to splash him with the other one. After a while, the couple started getting tired and decided to relax and watch the stars through the glass ceiling.  
“Sting,” Sienna said in a small voice.  
“Yeah?”  
“Thank you for this wonderful day.” She paused for a bit. “And I guess I’m kinda sorry for earlier. I’m just so happy that I get to be with someone as great as you that my emotions got the best of me.”  
He pulled her closer to him by the shoulder. “It’s fine, love.” He kissed her on the temple. “Just know that I’m willing to do anything for you.”  
She giggled. “Oh, that I know, honey,” she said affectionately.


	27. A call from the forest

For a change of pace, Sienna was going on a job with Yukino and Minerva. And strangely enough, Minerva had been the one to ask the both of them to keep her company. Sienna had been thinking of going on one with one of the two for quite a while now out of a sense of curiosity but hadn’t been able to summon up the courage to ask either.  
Though one of the things that had made it more fun was Sting’s pouting face when she told him she was going on a job with the two Mages. This made her look at him affectionately and promise him that when she came back, she would go on a job with him which caused him to jump up in the air with joy. When he had stopped jumping like a child, she kissed him goodbye and went on the job.  
It was quite far from the guild, so they had to make a stop for the night in a town near a wooded area. There Sienna and Yukino ended up sharing a room and Minerva got one to herself. After a few hours of being in dreamland, Sienna suddenly got up. It had been so loud and clunky that it had even woken up Yukino.  
“Lady Sienna, what’s wrong?”  
Sienna ignored the Celestial Spirit Mage and started walking towards the exit without her shoes on.  
Yukino ran towards her. “Lady Sienna?”  
Her eyes were open, but they seemed so out of it for some reason as she continued walking. She opened the door and walked away without paying any attention to what was going on around her.  
Yukino went to Minerva’s room and told her about what was going on.  
The two Mages followed the Nature Mage as she continued walking through town in the direction of the woods.  
“It looks like her second home is calling,” Minerva noted.  
“Oh no. But why would it do that all of a sudden?” Yukino said worried.  
“We will have to find out. But first I’ll try something.” Minerva tried to use her Territory Magic on Sienna to get her anywhere but headed towards the woods, but when her magic hit her it seemed to bounce off. “This is definitely not her choice. We need to figure out a way to get her out of it.”  
Yukino thought of something and ran in front of Sienna. “Lady Sienna, please stop. Otherwise you will worry Master Sting.”  
Sienna’s emotionless eyes seemed to flicker in pain. She was still in there; that much could be seen. But how could they possibly get her to snap out of it? Should they send a message to the Sabertooth guild and tell them about this predicament or figure it out themselves. They were Sabertooth Mages after all, from one of the strongest guilds in all of Fiore. And Minerva was the top dog. It would be near useless to call in for reinforcements. Or was it? Yukino decided to ask her companion.  
“First let’s figure out what’s going on and then we’ll message them.”  
“Of course.”

Sienna slowly woke up with a groan but when she realised where she was her eyes shot open in wonder at all of the beauty around her. The trees, plants, everything seemed more alive than ever before. It was like heaven. Crap.  
Had she died?  
Was this it?  
No, that couldn’t be it. The job had been an easy fix and she had gone to a motel for the night with the other women. If someone had tried to kill her in her sleep, surely she would’ve noticed. She was a light sleeper after all.  
“Oh, so you’re finally up.” The voice sounded so attractive that it could hardly be considered human.  
Meaning ... oooh crap. She tried to move, but her arms had been tied to a tree with vines – much like the ones she could create herself – and her legs were in the same predicament. She looked up at her conversation partner and realised that human really wasn’t a way to describe him. Everything about him, from his eyes to the way he stood, was so attractive that she could hardly even blame that woman for going after someone like him. She wouldn’t. But she presumed someone experiencing something like heartbreak would. She fixed him with a glare – no reason to be friendly. “What do you want?”  
He laughed. “Oh dear, you’ve got quite an attitude, don’t you? That will sure make my future interesting.” He neared her and scooped up a bit of hair which she had left loose during the night and sniffed it. “In more ways than one if you know what I mean.”  
She growled. “No.”  
“No? No?” He laughed again. “Oh no, my dear, you seem to have things backwards. It’s a yes from you. I may have no qualms about something like this, definitely since it’s with a beauty such as yourself, but I would like your consent in things. Otherwise my men might want to break you so the only thing you can say is ‘Yes, Your Royal Highness.”  
Everything he said made her feel sick to the stomach. Which was new. To feel something like that just after a few sentences was something she had never experienced before. These Nature Spirits sure were something. “Why? Why me?”  
He neared her and centimetres from her mouth said, “Because you were promised to me.”  
Strength. She needed strength. Just to get one thorn and shove it into this conceited bastard’s body.  
He eyed her eagerly, wondering what he would do first once the prize officially became his. “You know, I wonder what it’s like to kiss you. I don’t want our first kiss in public to be bad, you know.”  
Sienna’s lips instinctively tightened shut.  
He noticed and chuckled. Then he placed his hand on the top of her head and pushed backwards. “Fighting’s useless, my dear. You’ve just had twenty years of your life, while I’ve had much longer.”  
How in the living hell did he know any of that? He sounded like a first-class stalker. That would be if he actually used her name and stopped referring to her as ‘my dear’.  
“Hey, boss. You called?” another Nature Spirit said.  
“Ah yes. I need her to comply better.”  
The called person grinned. “Of course, boss man.” Just before he reached her, dozens of vines suddenly sprung up between him and his target.  
“Don’t. You promised that you wouldn’t.” This man’s voice sounded more human, but attractive, nonetheless.  
“I gave her a chance. She doesn’t seem to want to. Probably that Dragon Slayer’s fault if you ask me. But it was necessary.”  
“Necessary?” Sienna’s voice had gotten a deadly hint.  
“Yes. Before you could marry me, you had to have shared your bed with someone already.” He cocked his head. “Willingly. It’s a rule here. Silly, I know. But the royal family’s stood behind it for centuries.”  
“You’re sick, you know that.”  
He sidestepped Sienna’s protector and put his arms next to her face. “Guess we’ll end up sharing germs then.”  
In response Sienna spat in his face.  
This caused him to grab her by the cheeks and pushed them closer together. “I wonder; has that Dragon Slayer marked you. I can sense him on you, but I presume I would have to check for any markings.”  
“He has,” she responded in a deadly sweet voice. “And it's truly great.”  
“Yeah. Great ’cause it was with a human. Us Nature Spirits can take you to cloud nine.”  
Sienna grinned at him. “You know, people who talk big about that kind of stuff usually aren’t that good.”  
“Hmmm. Let me prove you wrong then,” he said in her ear.  
“Your Royal Highness, please stop.”  
He sighed and looked at the man annoyed. “What’s the point of being a prince if I can’t have fun sometimes?”  
“I understand. But you know the rules.”  
He let go of her face. “Yeah, yeah. Stupid ass rules. Someone else has to take them first and then the betrothed will have to wait till after the ceremony. Geez. It’s like I’ve been waiting my whole life for this. Which is quite literally true. I’ve only ever been allowed to have short relationships with women, so I don’t get too emotionally attached to them and do the unthinkable like fall in love. While she gets to do exactly that with that Dragon Slayer.”  
“Will you stop referring to him as ‘that Dragon Slayer’? He has a name, you know. It’s Sting and he is the master of Sabertooth. And I-”  
“Yeah. I know. You love him. Saw all that crap and more. Doesn’t matter now. You can forget about spending your future with him and concentrate on spending it with me.”  
“Why?” Her voice had stopped pretending to be strong and cracked.  
“’Cause father and mother dearest broke the law and spent a blissful night together. Us spirits have to stay a secret to the world around us. No one is allowed to know that we exist and yet ... yet this man over here,” he said, pointing towards the man who had tried to protect Sienna, “went ahead and spent actual months with a human being. And not only that, but it turned out that in those months he had sired a child. Now I wouldn’t say that my father is one to force the rules upon his underlings, but when he found out about that, he was pretty pissed. He would’ve had them killed if your father hadn’t come up with the great idea of marrying you off to someone.”  
Now there was actual bile in her mouth, which she spat out while giving her father the death glare. When she got free ... if she got free, she would make these spirits suffer. She didn’t give a damn whether they were divine beings or not, deals like that shouldn’t be made or even considered.  
“Did she know? ... My mother?”  
“No. I wasn’t allowed to see her after I left. No humans knew.”  
“But all of you... All of you knew that in the end I would end up as his royal assness’s wife. But I’m sure you didn’t care. Just let her live her life so that one day she can be handed over to him. Let her fall in love and break her heart. We don’t care. We’re beautiful and all powerful and can do whatever the hell we want because we’re god’s gift to this world! She is just a tool that can be used for our own gain! Feelings like empathy don’t exist! We’re too great to feel something as silly as that!”  
As Sienna was talking with tears streaming down her face, light started collecting around her. Powerful light. It came to her aid as it wrapped around her and freed her from the tree.  
She looked at her body, filling with magic and smiled a feral grin at her opponents. “I’ve always wondered what it’s like to take on spirits. Do they also bleed like humans or is it another colour?” Then she went for a frontal attack. She managed to hold her own for a while, but the ruckus caused by the fighting alerted the guards.  
They saw their prince being threatened which made them take up the defensive position between her and him. One of them even got close enough to hit her with a sedative.


	28. Royal lesson

Sting awoke in the middle of the night with a start, sweating like there was no tomorrow. This was new. He was used to worrying about her, though thankfully it had lessened. But to actually have a nightmare was just weird.  
He needed to relax, Minerva and Yukino were with her and he trusted them to look after her. Not like she actually needed it, but it was nice knowing, nonetheless.  
He got out of bed and changed into his clothes after washing himself. There was no way he would fall back asleep considering his heart was still trying to escape his chest. He let himself fall on his bed and put his hands against his forehead pensively. When was the worry going to stop? And was it actually a good thing or a bad thing? It was better than not caring at all, but he knew that she didn’t tend to worry about him as much. Maybe if the rest of the world understood what she was to him, he could rest calmly. But then again, apparently her ‘parents' had come over to warn her about something, along with telling her that she wasn’t entirely human.  
He groaned in irritation and stood up. He needed to blow off some steam.  
While he was training outside, he suddenly noticed a bird flying in his guild’s direction with a message attached to it. He called it over to him and took the message. His eyes skimmed over it and when he realised what it was saying he roared out in agony and ripped it to shreds.  
His guild mates heard his sudden outburst and came out to ask him what was going on. He tearfully explained the situation. It would be difficult for all of his guild mates to get there fast, so it was decided that only he and Rogue, carried by Lector and Frosch respectively, would go. During the journey, Sting turned dissonant serene.

The Exceeds noticed the female Mages standing outside the woods. They landed along with their friends in front of them.  
Sting decided to forgo any greetings and asked in a hoarse voice, while pointing at the woods, “Is she in there?”  
“Yes, Master Sting. She walked straight through some kind of barrier. We tried to follow her, but it wouldn’t work. Even Lady Minerva’s Territory was useless.”  
Tough Sting was listening; he noticed something appear behind the Mages. He went over to it and found small plants, but still big enough to form a shadow. “Rogue.”  
“Yes.”  
“Go into the shadow.”  
“Are you sure?”  
“Find a way to take down the barrier while you’re there and make sure she’s safe. Her safety is your top priority.”  
“Of course.” Then Rogue turned into a shadow and entered the small shadow that had been cast.

In the shadows Rogue noticed a switch. _Is it really that simple?_ He turned semi-tangible and turned the switch. He looked around and found Sienna going up stairs and walking up towards a dais in what was undoubtedly a wedding dress. _This is bad._ He travelled in the shadows to her and stopped just behind her to untie her hands. While he was doing that, she suddenly got snatched away to the top by vines.  
“Didn’t your parents teach you not to take what isn’t yours?” the snatcher said, holding onto Sienna.  
“Funny, I was about to say the same thing,” Sting said hoarsely, punching the prince in the face to the outer edge of the dais with one hand and holding onto his girlfriend with the other, literally sweeping her off her feet.  
Sienna looked up at her boyfriend and saw that the look in his eyes was the same as when Lector had been taken away from him. She let out a small whimper. “Thank you.” Then she buried her face against his shoulder.  
“Relax,” the king said, unaffected by the fact that his son had just been blasted away by this newcomer. “How about we make a deal, huh?”  
“If it includes her coming to your side, no.”  
“Do you really think that you Mages can defeat all of us? Your _girlfriend_ still has a long ways to go before she has reached her epitome of strength.” Someone whispered something in the king’s ear. “Or not. She seems to be powerful already when surrounded by nature and thinking about the people she loves, but she still has a long ways to go. Two Dragon Slayers, one Celestial Spirit Mage and a Territory Mage are hardly anything to be afraid of.”  
Sting looked down at his girlfriend who nodded against his bare chest. “You’re forgetting someone. And I know she is someone you should be afraid of. I’m speaking out of experience here.”  
She smiled slightly though the pain was still in her eyes and kissed him on the cheek.  
“How about we show them what we’re capable of?” he said, smiling down at her.  
“Yes. And considering you’re here, could say that we’re on a job together,” she said, smiling up at him.  
He gave her one last kiss before letting her go and starting a battle at the bottom.  
As the battle went on, the Mages seemed to be outnumbered, to no surprise of anyone.  
Minerva went up to stand behind Sienna and whispered, “I know you don’t approve of it, but it might be our only option.”  
“I know.”  
Minerva teleported one of the young children to her hands and held him threateningly. Apparently, she hadn’t been the only one thinking of taking a hostage, as Sting was now being held by a lavishly dressed woman by the neck and a thorn pointed towards his jugular. There were multiple thorns directed at the woman’s back within seconds along with the order, “Let him go.”  
“Oh, you really are protective of him, aren’t cha?” the woman said with a smile. “So that uproar of earlier wasn’t nothing. Can’t blame you though, he does look delicious. Could become one of us if he wanted to. Not yours, of course. You belong to the prince. But maybe mine.”  
The thorns made contact with the woman’s body.  
“Oh, come now, don’t be silly. He’ll be dead before any of yours can kill me. Sure, you could end up killing me as well but then we’ll both be dead and won’t have reached any kinda agreement.”  
Sienna growled. She wanted to make this woman bleed on the ground for taking her Sting hostage, but she knew she was right. She shifted her eyes. Minerva seemed to be paralysed. _Guess her Territory can’t move him away from her._ She looked at the woman. She was probably one of high standing and therefore got all the training she needed in the world. She would be hard to beat in a one on one fight, no matter how pumped up she felt. But this woman was confident, really confident and as Sienna had seen during the Games, confidence could be your downfall.  
She stepped closer; no one else moved an inch. “What’s in it for you?”  
“Oh?” the woman asked intrigued. “King’s favour, that kinda stuff.”  
“Ah, so you’re one of those people, huh. Don’t care what you have to do as long as it’s advantageous for you. Sabertooth used to be like that, until Sting took over and changed it into something so much more. So much better. It’s sad really, only looking out for yourself. Not doing anything because of the people around you, because you can.”  
For some reason unknown to the others the woman had started shaking. “I tried that. But he cheated on me and everyone else just tries to use me.”  
“So, you decided to become a heartless bitch instead, fair enough. But I’m still curious, what will the king’s favour get you?”  
“A good place to stay, riches.”  
“Ah, tangible things.” Sienna nodded her head in understanding. “And what about friendship?”  
“What?”  
“You want friends, don’t you? I’m sure that if you were to take Sting with you, you would also try and befriend him.”  
She started crying. How did this twenty-year-old woman understand more than the people she lived around with? She just wanted someone to love her, be it the king or anyone else.  
“I understand. I really do. Good friends are a rarity, and, in some cases, it takes a near miracle to find them and stay close to them.” She looked Sting in the eye, who was staring at her in wonder. “But you can’t use people for your own gain. That’s just wrong.”  
“Maybe in your world.”  
“So, I guess the longer you live, the fewer morals there are the better. Be too much of a pain, right? The Underworld King said that humans are interesting, but I have to disagree with him and say that Nature Spirits are.”  
Then suddenly the Nature Spirit felt immense pain in her feet. She looked down and noticed roots coming out of the ground and boring through her feet. She tried to change into anything else but was stopped. She sent her thorn flying towards Sting’s neck, but in her shock, she had let go of him and he destroyed it without any problems. Now there were multiple thorns directed at her as she lay helplessly on the ground on her back.  
“Are you willing to change your ways?” Sienna said, crouched down beside her. She looked at everyone and said, “Or better even, are any of you? ’Cause it’d be pretty damn sad for beings who can live for as long as you do to keep on making the same mistakes. Let people be with who they want to be; just let them live life like they want. And don’t do that arranged marriage nonsense, it only causes unhappiness.”  
There was a clap from the dais. “Bravo, bravo. You really are a good public speaker and powerful indeed. Having you as my daughter-in-law sure will be fun.”  
Sting growled, but Sienna put her hand in front of him. “I’ve got this, babe.”  
Then a thick vine started twisting around the king’s legs, going up and up until he was wrapped up nicely. The guards looked angrily at Sienna. She scoffed. “Just let us go. Otherwise you’ll end up like your king, that woman sobbing on the floor or your other fallen colleagues. We may no longer be the strongest guild in Fiore, but we still are a strong guild. Don’t underestimate us.”  
The guards stood down.  
“What?! No! She was promised. She was promised to me!”  
Sting was now grinning as he looked at the prince. “Your parents really should’ve taught you not to take what isn’t yours.” He started walking towards him.  
The prince readied an attack but was blasted away by a shadow.  
“Hey. I wanted to take him!” Sting said annoyed to Rogue.  
“It looked like it was going to take long, so I decided to step in.”  
“Fine. Let’s go.”  
The moment the Mages exited the woods, the force field went up again.  
Not a minute later, Sienna collapsed against Sting. He had seen it coming and was quick to lift her up. “I’m proud of you, Sienna. Really proud. You did good, babykins,” he said while pecking her on the forehead, nose and lips between sentences.  
“Are you two going to need some alone time tonight?” Lector asked.  
“You can have my room if you want,” Minerva put in. “I don’t mind sleeping in her room.”  
Sting could feel the embarrassment creeping up on him. “She needs rest,” he said. He felt his girlfriend tugging on his jacket and smiled at her lovingly. “But we could share a bed.”  
“So, Sting...,” Minerva started.  
“Yes, Milady?”  
“Do you like what she’s wearing?” she asked with a smile.  
Sting looked down to study what his girlfriend was wearing and strangely enough realised just then what it was: a wedding dress. His blush grew deeper. Was this what he wanted her to wear at some point? Crap. She really did look good in it like he had thought during the Grand Magic Games. He was going to hell for what he was thinking now.  
“You know, it’s only appropriate that you wear a suit now,” Sienna said in a dreamy voice.  
He lifted her up so that now their noses were touching. “I will one day. That’s a promise.”  
She grinned and opened her eyes, looking straight into his with the same loving expression. “That’s one hell of a promise,” she said putting a hand on his cheek.  
“Does that scare you?”  
“Oh no, not at all. It excites me,” she said and pulled his head towards hers and kissed him.  
“Who’s totally not surprised that it took this turn,” Lector said raising his hand, before his other guild mates followed suit with a smile.


	29. “Glad I met you”

Once alone in their room, Sienna said quietly, “Now I understand.”  
“What?”  
“Do you … remember that I told you some random voices told me to leave?”  
Sting was looking at her tentatively, prepared to pull her into a hug any second. “Yeah. Nature Spirits, right?”  
She nodded. “That’s what I presumed after that conversation, yeah. And it makes even more sense now. Because…” Tears started forming in her eyes. “Because otherwise we wouldn’t have met. Did they plan that? Did they plan on me falling in love with you, so that’s why they told me to leave? Did they control anything else? I don’t remember, but what if they did?”  
He looked at her perplexed. “Sienna, love, I don’t get why you’re bringing that up, but I love you, okay.” He brought her into a hug. “No one made me fall in love with you, I just did. And I stayed in love with you. Nothing will change that. Even though they’re creepy bastards, at least they did one good thing. Doesn’t change the fact they’re creepy.”  
She chuckled softly. “Yeah. That they most definitely are. Especially the prince.”  
“Seemed more like a spoiled brat than anything else.” He said against her cheek. “Thinking he can take what’s mine.”  
She giggled. “You said it. But not tonight.”  
He kissed her temple. “I understand, love.” He looked at her seriously. “Why you wonderin’ if they planned on us falling in love?”  
She looked down uncomfortably. “Apparently there’s this rule…”  
“Yeah.”  
“That to be married into the royal family, I guess … I would … have had to share my bed with someone willingly.”  
His face contorted with rage. “What?!”  
Sienna looked up at him with her mouth slightly agape in hesitancy before looking down. “Yeah. I know. It’s sick.”  
“No. It’s disgusting. You’re not some piece of property that can be traded around like that, especially not that bit of you. It’s a privilege, not a right.”  
She gave him a small, fond smile. “A privilege?”  
“Yeah.” He hugged her side and rested his head on her left shoulder. “Everything I get to do with you or to you is a privilege. I’m so damn lucky that you enjoy all that stuff. Not like I mind, there are plenty of other things to love about you.”  
She giggled slightly. “Oh yeah. Like what?”  
He grinned. “Oh, the princess wants me to tell her, does she?”  
“Yes. It doesn’t have to be long. I’m just curious.” She was smiling at him lovingly.  
“Let’s see.” He tackled her onto the bed, so they were facing each other while lying down. “Love how nice and understanding you are but won’t stand for bullshit, how strong you are in both body and mind, how selfless, willing to do anything for the things you believe in.” He nuzzled up against her. “That you can get exasperated or annoyed at me but still love me after all this time. You’re so smart and beautiful, no one could hold a candle to you. You’re so protective even though I don’t need it. You’re just so, so good.”  
Tears of happiness had formed in her eyes. She buried her head against his chest. “Thank you.”  
“Anytime.” He grinned at her teasingly. “Now it’s your turn.”  
Sienna raised her eyebrows. “Excuse me?”  
“Tell me all the things you love about me, princess.”  
She laughed in disbelief. “No. I’m not gonna boost your already inflated ego even more.”  
His smile brightened. “You think it will?”  
“Yeah. Though what it comes down to is really simple. No matter how smart you may be you’re still an idiot that can make me laugh or smile no matter what. You’re brighter than the sun and the stars combined.”  
He blinked as a blush dusted his cheeks. He buried his head against her chest. “Thanks.”  
She giggled in approval. “Oh, so it actually did embarrass you. Nice to know. Maybe I should come up with a list then.”  
Sting shook his head. “No. It’s alright. That’s enough. Thank you.”  
She couldn’t stop silently laughing. “You’re so cute. Maybe I should.”  
“If you want to get punished when you’re feeling better, sure, go ahead.”  
Her smile turned intrigued. “What kind of punishment, Master?”  
His smile turned impish. “Edging.”  
She yelped at the thought, though she was still laughing. A light started dancing in her eyes. Even though it was her least favourite punishment and he loved taking his sweet time with it, what came after it was always bliss. She always turned into a child begging him to continue when he stopped, although she knew it was going to happen. The way he looked at her also didn’t help one bit. “No. Don’t. I won’t say anything anymore. I promise,” she said through a smile.  
He kissed her cheek. “That’s good.” he brought her closer to cuddle. “Now rest. You deserve it, princess.”  
She calmed down thanks to the position. “Yeah.” She nuzzled against him. “Baby.”  
“Yeah?”  
“Whatever the cause for the circumstances were, I really am glad I met you.”  
He kissed her forehead. “Me too, princess. Me too.” He grinned at her playfully. “Where else would I find such a perfect slave?”  
She looked at him askance and lightly hit his chest. “Oh, shut up, you idiot. With everything you have, I’m sure you’d have no problems whatsoever.”  
“Maybe.” He said against her forehead, “But I wouldn’t love any of ’em as much as you.”  
She smiled softly. “Guess not. And it’s because of that that you’re such a perfect master.”  
“Yeah. ’Cause I know what you like and don’t.” His hug tightened. “And it’d never let any harm come to you.”  
She looked at him with adoring, teary eyes. _Don’t take him away from me again. Please. I love him so much. I know it’s a selfish request. Just please. All I ask for my future is for him to be in it._ She made herself comfortable against Sting’s chest and eventually fell asleep.


	30. Fight with the minion

Sienna was walking towards the exit of the guild hall, off to go on a job when she noticed someone staring hungrily at her. She stopped at stared at the man.  
“Hello, Sienna, you look lovely as always.”  
“And you look ugly as always. What are you doing here, Tom?” she asked flatly.  
“I heard that you were willing to battle people. I have brought someone over who would do just fine. And once he wins, you will come back and work for me.”  
Laugher broke the silence that followed. “If you think you can take her away from me, you are dead wrong. She belongs to Sabertooth now, to me.” He put his arms around her hip in a protective manner.  
“Ah yes. You must be the new master, Sting, isn’t it? I understand your desires all too well. But she got kicked out of your guild and landed in my restaurant. I gave her food and shelter when no one else would.”  
“Oh please. Don’t make yourself out to be some kinda saviour. You gave me food from the restaurant, sure. But the shelter I got was from renting an apartment; maybe with the money you gave me, but I did fine without you, wouldn’t you say?”  
He smiled at her and nodded. “True, true. But I would still like to see you battle.”  
“Of course.” She looked towards Sting, who was staring at Tom threateningly. “The main hall should do, right, honey?”  
“Yeah. Common,” he said and led her away with Tom and Sienna’s opponent following close behind.  
The Sabertooth Mages all gathered in the great hall and made a circle around Sienna and her opponent, Bjorn. He had a big build in every aspect. Getting past him could be a challenge.  
Sting was still giving Tom the evil eye as he told the competitors to begin. Soon enough his attention went back to his girlfriend and she was doing amazingly. Nothing surprising, her petite body made it easy for her to dodge Bjorn’s attack. But it was done with such elegance and grace that he almost forgot how unladylike his girlfriend could be sometimes. It didn’t matter. She was doing great and would win. And then this Tom character could get lost.  
Bjorn stopped attacking and sized up his opponent, knowing that stomping willy-nilly would be useless. Then she smiled at him. Now he understood why his master wanted her so much. So, he had to win, no matter what she tried to throw at him. She ran up towards him, evading his protective blasts and jumped into the air. He tried to protect himself one last time, but to no avail as his opponent turned into vines. Centimetres from him, she turned back and kneed him in the stomach with her right knee, while her left foot made contact with his groin.  
This caused the whole of Sabertooth men to look on in shock and reach for their own privates in sympathy.  
“This is your girlfriend,” Rogue said shaken.  
“Yeah. Isn’t she amazing?” Sting said happily after witnessing this awesome fight.  
Sienna checked her opponent one last time to be sure that he was definitely out of commission. She bowed while grinning at her guild mates and then walked over to Tom. “’Pears you lost. Or your minion did.”  
“That doesn’t matter, I will find a way,” he said, more confident in his words than himself.  
“Give it up, Tom. I’m not coming back with you.”  
He reached for her arm, but his own arm was soon in a death grip courtesy of Sting. “Don’t touch her.”  
“Sting, I can take care of myself,” Sienna said.  
He smiled. “I know that. You did great here, princess. But this guy has such a disgusting look in his eyes. I don’t trust it.”  
“Um…,” came out in one breath.  
Tom was struggling under his grip and said annoyed. “Fine. You’ve caught me. I wanted her for more than just tending my restaurant. But you can hardly blame me, I mean, look at her. Surely you thought of bangin’ her the first moment you saw her again.”  
Anger flared in Sting’s eyes. “No. I thought she was beautiful and nothing more. I still think she is. You disrespectful bastard.”  
“I guess I can understand now why she kept rejecting me. You do seem to love her. But I would’ve pleased her just as much.” Not a second after he had finished his sentence, Tom crashed into the stone floor with full force.  
“See how you fare against a Dragon Slayer.” Sting was glowing now; he had gone into White Drive.  
“Sting, please, stay calm. He’s a bastard, but he didn’t actually do anything. I kept him at bay, if you can even call it that.”  
“Why? Why did you continue working for him then?”  
“Because he stopped treating the other women that way when I appeared. He only had eyes for me, and I knew I could stand up against him.”  
“And what about if you couldn’t? What then?”  
He wasn’t even looking at her, damn what was he thinking?  
“I guess I would’ve lost then. But if it meant protecting those women, I would’ve done it all over again no question.”  
“And now it appears that he’s doing it with more. You’re going to the police. Which you should consider a mercy consider what I want to do to you for harassing her.” He wasn’t even looking at Tom anymore as he held him down.  
“Sting!”  
He looked at his girlfriend and could see that slight fear had entered her eyes. Then he looked down and saw that the man underneath him was near choking. He loosened his grip. “Sorry,” he said more to his guild mates than the man he had almost killed. He looked towards his guild mates. “Someone take him away. I need ... to think.” Then he gave the man on last warning glare while pushing him against the ground and was gone.


	31. An amazing year

Sienna was looking pensively outside the bedroom window. “Almost one year, huh?” she said absentmindedly. “One amazing year and many more to come.” She rubbed her neck. “What should I give you, Sting? You’re probably gonna go all out again.”  
She groaned and let herself fall face first on the bed. “What do?” She looked towards the door pensively. “Maybe make something to eat again.” She closed her eyes and shook her head. “No. It should be something you can keep for the rest of our life together.”  
She blinked rapidly, an idea coming to mind. She got up and aggressively opened the door. However, the moment she stepped out; she almost ran into her boyfriend. A small smile appeared on her lips. “Sting.”  
“So, you’re finally deciding to come out,” he said with a grin.  
“Yeah. Was getting kinda lonely.” It was part truth. As internally excited as she was for her idea, she also wanted to spend some time with Sting before she put it into action.  
He stroked her cheek. “Then guess you need to spend some extra time with me then.” He lowered his hand and took hers. “Don’t really have much to do now.” He looked at her with a childlike playfulness dancing in his eyes. Though knowing him it most definitely wasn’t anything childlike he was thinking about.  
She gave him a small, disbelieving smile. “I’m game. But you know apart from our room, there aren’t many other places at this time.”  
They started walking downstairs.  
“Well there is one.”  
Her smile grew. “You’ve got it. But have to make sure no one enters.” She frowned. “Know whether it has a key?”  
He frowned, thinking. “Think there’s one in one of my drawers. If not, we can just as well put a sign outside.”  
She chuckled. “What? ‘Your master’s getting in on, so don’t disturb’.”  
Despite the obviousness of what was to come, Sting still looked at her embarrassed. “Maybe not so specific.”  
“Yeah. Though they’d probably figure it out at one point or another.” She shrugged with a playful smile. “Also, subtlety never really is our strong suit.”  
“Only ’cause you’re so loud,” he said in her ear.  
Her face started reddening slowly but surely. Soon enough she also felt it and covered her face in her hands. “Shut up. You don’t have to remind me.”  
He started playing with her hair. “Why not, princess? It’s gonna happen soon anyway.”  
She screamed slightly in irritation. “Shut up.”  
“Or what?” he asked in a rough voice. His mouth was so close to her ear right now that he could kiss it or do anything with it really. However, he wasn’t that cruel. He knew that doing anything with her most sensitive spot when she was annoyed slash embarrassed would not be good.  
Her body was already starting to feel weak. Dammit. It wasn’t fair that he was so good at this. She took one of her hands from his face and touched his.  
“What is it, babykins?”  
“Can you carry me?” she asked sheepishly.  
“Huh? Something wrong?” he asked concerned.  
She looked at the floor embarrassed. “Um….”  
Sting soon enough caught on to what was happening to his girlfriend. A cheeky grin was now plastered on his face. He effortlessly picked her up. “That easy, huh?”  
She looked away. “Just shut up. Let’s just go.”  
“Sure thing, princess.”  
From then on Sting snuck the two of them to his office. He found that there was in fact a key to it, so locked the door and went to do one of his favourite activities with his girlfriend.


	32. Diary

The next day Sienna bought a notebook. The cover was light green and it had dark green swirls on it. As she was paying for it, she was humming happily, looking forward to what was to come.  
When she made it back to the guild, she didn’t go to her room, but to Minerva’s instead. Minerva had allowed her to use her room considering the importance of the secret.  
So now here she was, diary in hand, thinking of how best to write everything. She fished out a bunch of scrunched up papers – earlier inspiration. Then she nodded to herself and went to work.  
First, she started with the date, then stated the event and how it made her feel. Sometimes between she would also add small drawings, like a flower on the first day they met.  
However, the moment she was going to write about being kicked out of the guild, she froze. Because she had realised something that her sixteen-year-old self hadn’t. That even then, with everything, she had wanted to spend as much time with him as possible; have a happy future with him.  
She smiled shyly as she wrote it down. The next event: the best and worst moment of their interactions. She stopped again. This time it wasn’t because any sort of hidden feelings, but just, how rude she had been. “Did I apologise for that?” she asked herself in a small, horrified voice. She closed her eyes and concentrated. “I don’t think I did. Dammit.”  
So, after writing her feelings concerning their reunion, she apologised for her behaviour. She would also properly apologise when after he’d seen it. Unfortunately, her doing so before then would be seen as a bit out of the blue.  
She looked at the text with sad eyes. “We sure were put through the wringer, weren’t we, Sting? But we’re good now. It’s all gonna be good.”  
The rest of the day Sienna spent in Minerva’s room, spilling her heart out in the diary.


	33. The job

It was the year X792 and as Sabertooth’s new master, Sting had decided to have a new event while the Grand Magic Games were going on in Crocus called ‘Tiger! Tiger! Tiger! Food Festival’. He had chosen that his guild shouldn’t be part the Grand Magic Games because now that Fairy Tail was disbanded, it wouldn’t be any fun anymore.  
Sting, Rogue, Yukino and Minerva took part in the contest and despite Sting’s best efforts, he still lost against Minerva. Both Yukino and Rogue had never even stood a chance. This did cause him, however, to become much bigger in the horizontal sense of the way. To no distress of Sienna, who absolutely loved teasing her boyfriend about his new size and calling him her ‘Precious Grizzly Bear’.  
Today was a different day than usual at the Sabertooth guild because Natsu, Happy and Lucy came to see everyone. They were first greeted by Yukino who then let in.  
“It’s been a while! Everything okay?” Lucy asked with a smile.  
“Yes! Thanks to all of you!”  
“All the work that used to go to Fairy Tail’s been coming our way now, ya see,” Orga said.  
“And so, we’ve made quite the killing ... I seem to recall,” Rufus said.  
“U-Um ... that’s not at all what I meant when I said ...”  
“I know, silly! Anyway, Fairy Tail’s making a comeback now!”  
“Are you serious?! I ... I can’t wait!” Yukino said tearfully.  
“Er ... there’s really no need for you to get emotional...”  
“Is it just me or have I heard these voices somewhere before?” Sting said emerging.  
“It isn’t just you. Hi!” Lector said.  
“Yeah. Hi there,” Sienna said, smiling at the newcomers with a kind smile.  
“Hey, if it isn’t Natsu and Lucy!”  
“And Happy.”  
“Who. Are. You?” Lucy asked, not recognising the Guild Master with all his excess weight.  
“Yo, Sting,” Natsu said with a smile, recognising him straight away.  
“Haven’t changed a bit, have ya, Natsu.”  
“Right back at ya.” The Dragon Slayers smiled at each other in greeting.  
“No... He’s definitely changed!!!”  
“Hm? Is Carla not with you guys this time?” Lector asked, wanting to see the female Exceed.  
“Speaking of which, is Frosch gone too?” Happy asked.  
“Frosch is off with Rogue and the Miss on some work.”  
“Where’d they go?!” Natsu asked, grabbing onto the Exceed’s face.  
“What’re you doing to Lector, Natsu?!” Sting asked, prepared to go to his friend’s aid, causing him to bump into Lucy.  
“Oof!”  
“Natsu, let go of him,” Sienna said, bending opposite the Fire Dragon Slayer and looking into his eyes. “I’ll tell you where they’ve gone.”  
“Uh?” He looked at her. He recognised her scent from somewhere but couldn’t recall the meeting he had had earlier with her, tough Lucy did. Natsu let go of Lector.  
“They just left for a job. There’s a possibility they’ll be at the city gates.”  
“Thank you,” Natsu said with a smile and running of, not noticing the protective look Sting gave him.  
“One sec, Natsu!” Lucy shouted after him.  
“Wait up.”  
“Well that was weird,” Sienna said, going back to Sting’s side.  
“Tell me about it,” he said, putting his hand around her waist as he had turned back to previous size with the help of Yukino’s Celestial Spirit Libra.  
“And now he’s back to normal!!!” Lucy said, looking at him shocked.  
“Normal? That’s kinda rude.” Sienna leant her elbow on Sting’s shoulder. “At the moment, plump Sting is normal and, in the past... Let’s see.” She put her finger against her chin and thought.  
He knelt by her ear. “How about Sting that could destroy you in bed,” he said with a grin.  
She giggled and blushed slightly. “True,” she said, looking at him lovingly. “But now it is my turn,” she said in his ear with a grin.  
His cheeks became redder and his grin widened at the prospect. “You’ve got a deal.”  
Lucy soon enough realised that this was not something an outsider should witness so quickly bid her farewells and ran after Natsu along with Happy. She saw that he had caught up with Minerva and Natsu had pulled Rogue to the side. “Oh, for crying out loud,” she said while running.  
“You guys are...” Minerva said.  
“Fro wants to talk too!” the green Exceed said while hopping after its friend.  
“The rest of you stay put! This is just between us two!” Natsu ordered.  
This left the group wondering what was going on.  
“It’s been a while, hasn’t it,” Minerva said.  
“Yeah… I’m glad you made it back to your guild,” Lucy said with a kind smile.  
“Did you go to the guild yet?” Frosch asked Happy.  
“Just a moment ago, for a little.”  
“If you don’t mind me asking, what in the world happened to Sting?”  
“Hmm…The other day we had our Tiger! Tiger! Tiger! Food Festival and, well…”  
“Oh … I take it he got a bit overzealous…”  
“Indeed. However … in the end, it was I who won,” Minerva said proudly.  
“So, is that also why you guys didn’t make an appearance in the Grand Magic Games?”  
“Well, Master Sting said that a tournament without Fairy Tail wasn’t worth entering.”  
“Fro thinks so too!”  
Minerva looked down regrettably. “By … by the way, about last year’s tournament … I’m sorry.”  
“Hm? Don’t worry, I’m not torn up over it all. It was just a small tussle between guilds.”  
“Even so, it’s fair to say I went a bit overboard.”  
“Stop… Don’t beat yourself up over it! I’m none the worse for wear…”  
A small smile spread across Minerva’s lips. “Sienna also said something along those lines.”  
“Who’s…?”  
“Sting’s girlfriend. I’m sure you’ve met her.”  
“Oh. I’ve more than just met her,” Lucy said uncomfortably, wanting to get the memories of earlier erased.  
“Ah. Yes. He’s very public about his affection for her. We all had to get used to it.”  
“That’s not something I would like to imagine getting used to.”  
“It’s fine. About Fairy Tail … I was sad when word had spread that Fairy Tail had disbanded. It really was a marvellous guild.”  
Lucy grinned and showed her Fairy Tail guild mark on her hand to Minerva, making her smile slightly.  
“It’s not gone yet… It’ll always be in our hearts,” she said, putting her marked hand on her heart.  
“In Fro’s too.” Frosch showed its guild mark on its back.  
“In Happy’s too.” Happy mimicked the action.  
Once Rogue and Natsu were far enough from the others, Rogue said angrily, “What are you playing at?! Just when I thought you’d finally come to visit…”  
“Show me the request form for that job you’re going on,” Natsu said urgently.  
“Wha?”  
“Just get the damn form out!”  
Rogue took out a form which read ‘Destroy Avatar’ on it. Avatar was a cult worshiping the Black Arts and their creator Zeref.  
“So, this must be where…” Natsu said distracted. “I’m gonna do this job.”  
“Whaaat!? This is a Sabertooth- Come to think of it, you don’t even belong to a guild anymore, do you?”  
“I’m with Fairy Tail! Listen up, Rogue. I’ll do the job and in exchange, I’ll give you guys all the rewards. So promise me … promise me you and Frosch are not gonna leave this city. Under any circumstances. Until I get back.”  
“What a crazy…”  
Natsu grabbed onto Lucy’s arm and tugged her forward. “Happy and Lucy, we’re off!”  
“Wha... wait a second! Where!?”  
“Minerva! Keep an eye on Rogue and Frosch! Don’t let them leave the city!”  
“I have no idea what just happened…”  
“Likewise…”  
“Neither does Fro.”

After the Fairy Tail Mages had left the guild hall, Sienna came up with an idea. “Hey, Sting,” she sang.  
He smiled at her, back to his chubby self. “Yes.”  
“I’ve got an idea.” She beckoned him.  
He came closer, resting his hand against the wall and looking straight into her eyes. “And what’s that?”  
She laughed, making him near her. “When you manage to catch up to me in the tower, then we can have our fun.”  
Disappointment hit him. “What?”  
She patted him lightly on his cheek. “A man has to sing for his supper.”  
He rubbed his cheek against her hand. “You’re the worst. Fine. I’ll do your little game. And I will win.”  
“Considering the price?”  
“Considering I can’t lose to you no matter what,” he said with a grin.  
She nodded and turned around. “Ok. On your marks, get set, go!” she said and ran off towards the highest point.  
“Hey, wait. Give me time,” Sting said as he tiredly ran after his girlfriend.  
Sienna made it up in no time and took in the tower that hardly anyone ever entered. Then she went over to the window. She opened it and felt a cold breeze rush over her. It really was nice, living so freely; with no restraints concerning her job or anything. The only thing she had was a worrywart boyfriend, which she had to admit she kind of liked. His worried expression before she went out on a job wasn’t exactly her cup of tea, but his jubilant face when she came back always brought a smile to her face – no matter what had happened during the job. And what happened afterwards, during the night. She sighed and put a hand on her neck. He really always made sure to show her how much he had missed her. Though he was needy, he definitely showed her love. But now it was her turn. Fat or not she loved him and was going to show that. And in the end, he was a good pillow, not like he usually was – hard and warm – but soft, warm, and cuddly like a big extra pillow that took up most of the bed. A pillow that would sometimes pull her closer and whisper sweet nothings into her ear.  
She giggled and bit her lip.  
While her brain was already going on its own adventure because of the prospect of excitement, she looked down and saw Rogue talking to Natsu alone; the others also seemed to be having a conversation of their own. She leant on the windowsill. _Wonder what’s up with them._ Then the Fairy Tail members left the Sabertooth’s with a piece of paper – the job Natsu had stolen from Rogue for some reason – in Natsu’s hand.  
Sienna continued waiting until she heard panting coming from below and then entering the door. “Seriously…, how can you…be the…worst and best…girlfriend at the same time?” Sting said between breaths.  
“Because I want what’s best for you, my Precious Grizzly Bear,” she said with a grin while helping him enter the room. “And at the moment you need lots of exercise. And not only that.”  
The Guild Master fell face first onto the floor. “Yeah. And what about saying you love me no matter what size?”  
She ruffled his hair. “I do. I just think that getting this fat in such a short amount of time can’t be good for the heart. And considering the heart’s the thing that keeps you alive, I gotta get your blood pumping.”  
He enjoyed the ruffling of his hair. “So, in more ways than one, right?”  
“Of course. Once you’ve caught your breath. I don’t especially want to be the reason you die.”  
He laughed. “Princess, you make me die multiple times a day.”  
“Good thing I also know how to restart it then,” she said, kneeling in front of his face.  
“That you do.”


	34. Happy anniversary

It didn’t take long for Sting to revert back to his previous size after training.  
When the day anniversary finally came, Sienna was seriously starting to get nervous. She had finished her present with time to spare, but now she was starting to get worried that it wasn’t good enough. She sat up in bed and looked at her bracelet. _Not good enough, huh? I really should stop doubting myself._  
She lay back down in bed and curled up against Sting.  
He pulled her closer. His lips had already gone to her neck. “Good morning, princess. Happy anniversary,” he said before he kissed her gently on it.  
“Happy anniversary,” she said with a delighted smile. Though anniversary came down to doing something big with your partner, she wouldn’t mind spending the rest of the day like this. One day had 24 hours. Sure, some had already been wasted by the two of them sleeping. But still … that time had still been the two of them together. So, it hadn’t been that bad. She could just as well give her gift much later.  
Apparently, Sting was thinking among the same lines, as his hands were already searching under the bed sheets. “Wanna?”  
“Yeah.”  
That was how the first part of their one-year anniversary was spent. However, in a sense it had been different that most times. Because this time, Sting showed Sienna all the love he could give. And naturally she loved every second of it.

Afterwards, Sting said that he would go get her some breakfast, which Sienna thought of as highly suspicious. For one, that would include Sting and a kitchen; a terrible combination. And second, she had enough energy to get breakfast herself.  
But the begging and smiling managed to convince her to stay in bed and enjoy her time relaxing. However, once he was gone, she sprung out of bed, put on some clothes and went as fast as she could to Minerva’s room.  
Once she made it there, she furiously knocked on the door. “Lady Minerva, are you up?”  
Minerva tiredly opened the door. She was still in her pyjamas. “Sienna, good morning. You’re up bright and early.”  
“Early? What time is it?” In her whole time of being awake, she hadn’t bothered at looking at a clock. Well, she had been too preoccupied with other things, so she could forgive herself.  
“Nine. That’s early for you, isn’t it?”  
She looked at her blankly, slightly embarrassed. It was true. Nine was early for her. She liked sleeping in and doing everything that needed to be done later in the day. And yet here she was, up nice and early – for her – ready to take on the day. Though then again, it was a special day, so she kind of understood why she was up so early.  
Minerva let out a soft chuckle. “I presume you want your present for him.”  
Instead of saying anything, Sienna nodded slowly.  
She took a wrapped present out of her magic space. “Here you go,” she said as she handed it over.  
“Thank you.” She accepted the present and bowed slightly. Then she went back to her room. Once there, two strong arms wrapped themselves around her.  
“Thought I told you to stay in bed,” the voice of her boyfriend said in her ear while his arms wrapped around her lower waist.  
“Sorry, honey, had something else to do,” she said as she held onto one of his upper arms with her free hand.  
He inspected her other hand and saw that she indeed was holding onto something, undoubtedly for him. He let go of her and moved to stand in front of her.  
Sienna held it up with a smile. “I got you something,” she said in a small, loving voice.  
He shook his head; pink had entered his cheeks. “Not yet.”  
“What?”  
“I want you to give it to me when we’re doing my present as well.”  
She looked at him bemused. “‘Doing your present’? Sting, what have you got planned?”  
His eyes widened at the realisation that his wording could have been better. “Nothing weird. I swear. I just need some time to finish it off.”  
She let out a soft sigh.“Fine.”  
He nodded. “Thanks. And could you … put on a nice dress on tonight?”  
She rubbed her neck in slight irritation. “Don’t think I have one anniversary worthy. Gonna have to shop.”  
“That’s fine. Just make sure your back again for dinner. You can go with one of the girls if you want.”  
She nodded. “Sure.” She held up her present with a smile. “And I’ll keep this to myself till then.” She stood on her toes and gave him a kiss. “I love you, Sting.”  
“I love you too, Sienna.”


	35. Dinner for two

So, the rest of the day, Sienna was out dress shopping with the girls. The annoying thing was, she didn’t know what kind to buy. He obviously had something romantic planned, but she couldn’t figure out what. A dinner? Another ball? Some kind of party or something weird?  
She shook her head tiredly at the last idea. Either way she knew that he wouldn’t involve the whole guild in this like last time.  
When she finally made it back to the guild, she noticed that it was deserted. “Hello?” she called out.  
“Welcome back,” Sting said with his bright smile.  
“Sting, where is everyone?” she asked confused. She noticed that he was wearing smart casual clothes. He looked undeniably good in them. A small blush formed on her cheeks. “And um … you look good.”  
“Had to go out for a bit. Did you find a dress?” He took her by the hand. “Thank you.”  
“Well, I found _a_ dress. Still don’t know whether it’s good enough though.”  
“It will. You look great in everything, princess,” he said as he started leading her back to their room. Once there he let her get changed, still smiling as brightly as the sun.  
Her smile softened once the door was closed behind her. Sienna took out her dress and put it on. Afterwards she looked at her hair in the mirror. “Should do something about this as well, right?” She got out her comb and some pins and managed to put her hair in a bun made out of a plait.  
Once done, she exited the room.  
Sting was still patiently waiting there. The moment he saw her, he looked at her in wonder. He opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out.  
She smiled at him lovingly as she approached him. She gently stroked his cheek. “Sting, are you alright?”  
“You really are getting more beautiful by the day,” he finally managed to say.  
She let out a soft chuckle and shook her head. “Wouldn’t say that. It’s just a really nice dress. But will you now please tell me what’s going on?”  
He nodded slowly and led her downstairs. Once there, he put his hands on her eyes. “Surprise to the end, babykins,” he said in a playful voice.  
She giggled. “Should’ve expected this.”  
So, the couple continued walking, with Sting leading the way. Once they made it to the designated spot, he removed his hands from her eyes.  
Sienna let out a small gasp. The hall was so beautifully decorated, in a different way than before. There were even rose petals scattered around. And in the centre of the hall was a single table. It had a perfectly white tablecloth and a small number of candles illuminating it.  
Sting excitedly led her to her seat and pulled out the chair for her to sit down in. Once the both of them were seated, waiters came and brought their dinner. The moment they were gone, tears started forming in Sienna’s eyes.  
Sting took her hands and looked at her concerned. “Love, what’s wrong?”  
“How do you do these things, Sting?” she asked in a small voice.  
“What?”  
“Like, how does something like this come to mind? I always have such difficulty thinking of getting you something great. You deserve the world and I just give you these things. I mean … I think my present is good enough, but yours is so sweet, so romantic.” She looked him in the eyes. “You’re just so amazing in so many ways.”  
He stared at her with confusion, unsure of what to say. “I dunno. Guess I always want to do something big for you and that comes to mind,” he managed to say eventually.  
“Guess having the power to do so also helps,” she said with a weak smile.  
He smiled at her. “True. Now let’s eat.”  
She shook her head with a smile. “Yeah.”  
The rest of the meal, the couple spent talking about all kinds of things with broad smiles. Once they had finished, Sienna thought it would be a good time to give her present. She carefully took it out of the bag she had put it in and handed it over to Sting. “Can you now open it?”  
“Yeah.” He accepted it with a broad smile and carefully opened it. When he saw what he was, he looked at it slightly confused.  
“Open it,” she instructed in a small voice, feeling her heart trying to escape her chest.  
He did so and at the sight of the first date, his mouth fell open. His eyes went over the text. It was so precisely written that it was difficult to believe that those events had happened more than ten years ago. The small drawings in the margins were also really cute.  
He continued reading, his eyes becoming moister by the second. When he made it to the day that she had been excommunicated, he stopped reading. He didn’t want to read that. Experiencing it once had already been bad enough.  
Sienna noticed the change in her boyfriend’s eyes and went over to him. She looked over his shoulder and looked pained at the date. “Would you rather have me read the passages?”  
He nodded shyly. “Okay.”  
She gently took the book out of his hand. Not a second later she was on his lap, with his arms wrapped around her and his chin on her shoulder. So, she started reading it, conveying the emotions she had felt at those moments perfectly. They were all still fresh in her memory after all. When she reached their reunion and apologised for her behaviour, Sting looked at her.  
“Why you apologising?” It could be heard that he had been crying.  
“’Cause I acted like an ass. I’m really sorry for that. And afterwards I treated it as some kind of joke.”  
“But you had a reason.”  
She turned her head to look at him. “That doesn’t mean anything. I was a jerk and should own up to it. I could’ve been nicer; I should’ve been nicer. ’Cause I hated seeing you like that, Sting. Really. But I was just so surprised. And I didn’t think we could be together yet ’cause Jiemma was still the master. Apologising during the banquet should’ve happened, but we got distracted and for some stupid reason I didn’t think of doing so till now. So, I’m really sorry for my behaviour then.”  
He kissed her gently on her cheek. “Apology accepted.”  
“Want me to continue?”  
“Yeah. I really like seeing into that brain of yours.”  
She chuckled. “You idiot. But yeah, fine.”  
The rest of the evening, the couple went over their life together, not leaving each others’ arms.


	36. Revelation

Sometime later Sting had come to the decision to go help out Fairy Tail in taking down Avatar. Lector, Rogue and Frosch came along because it was normal. Sienna also came along to make sure her boyfriend didn’t get himself killed or the group in any kind of trouble considering Minerva had told her not to let Rogue and Frosch out of her sight.  
On the way Sienna said, “So, Rogue …”  
“Yes?” he said, turning to her.  
“I know it’s kinda weird to ask now considering how long ago it was, but that you from the future he … also had Sting’s powers. It’s kinda strange, don’t cha think? I mean … I guess if you ate each other’s powers, but that would be short lived with the appearance. Did anyone of Fairy Tail tell you how come?”  
While Rogue was looking at Sienna, he could sense Sting’s gaze on him. He looked up and could see the clear message: “Lie.”  
“Like you said, he probably ate his powers.”  
“Yeah, but what happened to him afterwards? He wouldn’t let you do all of that.”  
“I don’t know. They didn’t tell me everything,” he said uncomfortably.  
Sienna stopped, resulting in everyone around her stopping with Sting’s arm still around her. “You really are a terrible liar, Rogue.”  
“I’m not lying.”  
“Oh really? Why are you so uncomfortable about it then?” she said in a serious voice.  
“I… Because I don’t know.”  
“Just tell me,” she said, stepping towards him. “If something happens to you or Sting, I need to be prepared. So just tell me. Please.” Tears had started forming in her eyes. “C’mon, Rogue. It can’t be any worse than what I’m already imaging.”  
“Sienna…”  
Sting had noticed his girlfriend’s wavering voice and had immediately after she had finished talking pulled her against him in a tight hug. She struggled. “Let go of me.”  
“I’m sorry, Sienna. I can’t,” he said in a soft voice.  
“Why aren’t I allowed to know?”  
“There’s no need. It won’t happen so it’ll only cause you pain.”  
“I hate you.”  
He kissed the top of her head. “Hm-mmm.”  
After Sienna had calmed down, they continued walking and finally made it to where the members of Avatar were. There they saw that Fairy Tail along with some members of the Magic Council had already dealt with the cult and were now talking.  
“Oh, come on. We were worried so we came all the way out here only to find …”  
“I can’t believe they finished off that massive army with so few people …” Rogue said in disbelief.  
“There just isn’t any beating them, is there?” Sting said with an admiring grin bending down next to Lector.  
“When they get together like that, it really is a sight to see,” Lector agreed. “You think so too, don't cha, Fro?” he said, turning towards where he thought the other Exceed was. Much to his surprise, it had disappeared. “Wha?! Frosch is missing!”  
“What?!  
“Frosch!”  
“Relax. He’s over there,” Sienna said, pointing towards where everyone else was. The Exceed was now talking with the others of Fairy Tail.  
“When’d he get down there?!”  
“’Pears he’s quite fast in some aspects,” she said smiling at Sting, causing him to chuckle while he shook his head.  
“Hm?” Gray said, noticing Frosch near him. “You … you’re Frosch from Sabertooth, aren’t you?”  
“Fro thinks so too.”  
Gray knelt down to face the Exceed. “Why’re you all the way out here?!”  
“I don’t know.”  
“Aaah!” Natsu screamed, noticing what was going on. “That bastard … he broke his promise.”  
“Promise?” Levy wondered.  
“Nghghgh …”  
Gray picked Frosch up and looked at it affectionately. “This guy … now that I take a good look at him, he’s kinda cute.”  
“Po!” Frosch blushed.  
“It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside,” he said, hugging Frosch tightly against his face.  
“That bastard … he’s trying to steal Frosch!” Rogue said shocked.  
“Nah, he’s just showing him how much they love him,” Sting said.  
“Mmmmgh …”  
“Let’s just go say hi already!”  
“Way ahead of you, honey,” Sienna said as she ran down the slope. She reached the group and said hi to everyone and then turned to Gray. “Can you hand him back? He kinda belongs to our guild,” she asked with a kind smile.  
“Sure,” he said. As he was handing over Frosch, Juvia started exuding jealousy.  
But not a second later Sting was by his girlfriend’s side and had his arm wrapped around her yet again, exuding the same kind of aura while looking at every single man. While she was playing with Frosch, he saw some men looking at her uncertainty. Like they were trying to figure out whether she truly was Sabertooth’s Guild Master’s girlfriend. So, he decided to enlighten them by grabbing his girlfriend’s hair and pulling it to the side to show what he had done to her recently along with pulling her into a passionate kiss. This whole scene caused everyone else who wasn’t used to this display to look at them shocked and some people even looked shyly at their potential partners. Though Juvia seemed all for this and said as much to Gray, who immediately rejected her idea. Natsu on the other hand looked confused at his fellow Dragon Slayer and asked Lucy what was going on and why the girl he was kissing had a mark on her neck. She just said it was something he didn’t need to know.

When the group of Sabertooth Mages made it back to the guild, they bid their farewells and went straight to bed.  
Later that night, Rogue got woken up by a knocking on his door. He opened it and saw Sienna – looking more fearful than usual – standing at his door in her dressing gown over her nightgown.  
“Sienna? What are you doing here?” he asked surprised.  
“Please tell me,” she said in a small voice.  
“Why do you want to know so badly?”  
“Because it’s ’bout the man I love and one of his best friends. Why else do you think? They must’ve told you what future you did, Rogue. C’mon.”  
“They just said that he had stolen Sting’s powers.” This most definitely was the truth, though not the whole truth.  
“But why? Why would he steal it? He must've already been powerful enough.”  
He sighed. He was even considering inviting her in so they could sit down and talk. Smartly he thought best not to, considering the hell he would be put through if Sting found out about it. “That dark shadow possessed me and did that.”  
“Dark shadow?” she asked in a fearful voice. “You mean that one that possessed you in your fight against Gajeel?”  
“Yes. So, nothing that I did in that future was actually me, but the me possessed by a shadow.”  
“That’s terrible. I ... we’ll try our best to protect you from it.” She smiled kindly at him.  
“Thank you.”  
“Guess I’m not surprised then that he stole Sting’s powers. Evil people always do go for being the most powerful of them all. But he wouldn’t have been alright with it.”  
“No,” Rogue agreed.  
“So, what do you think happened?”  
“Sienna, this really isn’t the right time,” Rogue said uncomfortably.  
“No, it is,” she said, looking straight in the Shadow Dragon Slayer’s eyes. “He is now sound asleep and won’t bother us. So, tell me, Rogue, what do you think happened?” Her last sentence sounded more like an order than anything else, definitely coming from the girlfriend of a Guild Master.  
“I-I think that he would have killed him,” Rogue said tentatively.  
Sienna let out a small yelp, then looked down sadly. “I thought as much. I just needed to be sure that I wasn’t the only one thinking that. He would ... he would never let you do any of that and ... and he would probably try to top the shadow possessed you. But I guess since the shadow possessed you became more powerful and merciless; he wouldn’t stand much of a chance.”  
Rogue reached out his hand and gently patted her on the shoulder. “I’m sorry.”  
“You don’t have to apologise, Rogue. Either way, it wasn’t you and it wouldn’t be you. Even if the person that might kill him one day has the same skin as you, I will still know that it’s not you.” She let herself sink to the ground as tears streamed down her face. “But I really hope that it doesn’t happen because I can’t lose him. Not after being separated from him for so long. Not after just realising how much I truly love him. And I know that in the future, there will also be moments where I realise it even more. Moments to look forward to.”  
“Sienna...,” he said, kneeling down beside her.  
“It’s all right. You can go back to bed if you want. Sorry for waking you up in the middle of the night like this.”  
Before Rogue could answer, there was a growl from behind Sienna. “What did you do?” the newcomer asked, coming right into his face.  
“She-she asked ... about Future Rogue.”  
“And you just told her? All of it?”  
“You know she wouldn’t have left if I hadn’t.”  
“Get lost.” Sting said and shoved Rogue back into his room. Then he knelt by Sienna and said in a soft voice, “Hey, Sienna.”  
“I’m sorry. I just wanted to know. I hated being in the dark like that. Not knowing that kind of stuff. Your ... our potential future. I’m sorry.”  
He hugged her. “You don’t have to apologise for anything, love. Really. You just did what you thought was necessary. I would also do that if I wanted to find something out.”  
“That you would,” she said, a smile appearing on her face. “In the worst way possible.”  
“I would rather say best,” he said, stroking her head. “But who really knows?”  
“Let’s find out next time you try to do something stupid, shall we?”  
“Sounds like a plan.”


	37. Mystery mission

As always, the couple were sleeping in a tangled mess of limbs. Hours passed and there was a knock on the door. Sting shot up, put some boxers on and opened the door to be faced with Rogue.  
He looked slightly annoyed at his friend. “Rogue, what are you doing here?”  
He held up a piece of paper – a job request. “We’re needed urgently.”  
Sting snatched the piece of paper from his hands and skimmed over it. Then scowled. “Really? They couldn’t be more specific?”  
“I presume they couldn’t write down too much, because that would’ve taken longer.”  
“What are you two talking about?” came a voice from the bedroom.  
“Not important,” Sting said dismissively. “Go back to bed.”  
Sienna eyed him seriously. “So, you can leave me in the middle of the night?”  
He looked at her shocked and surprised. “No. Of course not. I would never... You know I wouldn’t.”  
She stroked him with her free hand while her other one held firm onto the blanket, the only thing currently covering her. “I know you wouldn’t, honey. Please, just tell me what’s going on,” she said in a really soft voice.  
“Yeah.” He turned to Rogue. “I’m gonna get changed.” Then he shut the door behind him before he handed the request on to Sienna.  
She sat down on the end of the bed and started reading it. After that, she frowned. “You’re right. They could’ve been more specific. You two won’t even know what you’re up against.”  
“Well, it hardly matters. We’ll win either way,” he said with a smile.  
She looked up at him with a disbelieving smile. “Confident as always, I see.”  
He neared her and put his arms on either side of her, their faces centimetres apart. “You have a problem with that?”  
“Not at all, Master,” she said as she traced his bare back upwards.  
He smirked before he kissed her. Not a moment later it turned into something more passionate and his left knee was between his hand and her leg. Naturally, his girlfriend was enjoying every second of this, but there was still a part of her reasonable self that was conscious enough, telling her that this really wasn’t the time.  
This part pulled Sienna back to reality making her mouth separated from her boyfriend’s. “Sting.” Though it hadn’t been that long, she was still breathing heavier.  
He looked at her confused, but removed his hands from the bed, nonetheless. “What’s wrong?”  
She took a deep breath. She pointed at the door. “You know, you should be going on a job with Rogue, not doing this with me.” There was also still a slight blush on her cheeks, which deepened. “Um ... and yeah. We can always do this later. Um...”  
He caressed her cheek. “You don’t have to worry ’bout it, love. I know. I got a little side-tracked.”  
She looked down. “I know. But I guess I didn’t really help.”  
Sting sighed. “Sienna, that has nothing to do with what happened. I should've realised that it wasn’t the right time. I pretty much coaxed you into saying it like that.”  
She cocked her head confused. “I don’t think so. I guess we’re pretty much both to blame.”  
Sting shook his head slightly, not entirely convinced. He picked up his shirt and started putting it on.  
“Also, now that the Master of Sabertooth will be gone for who knows how long, who’ll be in charge?”  
He pulled his shirt over his head and looked at her. “You will.”  
“Eh?!”  
“Why is that hard to believe? You’ve been by my side long enough to know what I have to do, and I trust you.”  
However impossible it seemed, her cheeks became redder. “But-but...”  
He looked at her with a gentle smile. “Yes?”  
“What about Lady Minerva? She’s stronger.”  
“Doesn’t matter. I know you’ll do a great job.” He smiled at her playfully. "Is it maybe that unimaginable?”  
She started fiddling with her hands. “No. Um...”  
He cleared her forehead of all hairs and placed his against hers. “I trust you to lead this Guild in my absence. So please do the same for yourself.”  
“Yes.”  
“Good.” He pulled her in to one last kiss, whispered, “I love you so much,” and left.  
The moment her boyfriend had closed the door, Sienna fell backwards on the bed, covering most of her face with her hands. Tears started forming in her eyes, though she had absolutely no idea why. “I don’t deserve you,” she whispered. Minutes later, she fell asleep in the strangest position anyone had ever slept.


	38. Green master

The next morning Sienna entered the Sabertooth dining hall. Her guild mates looked at her surprised. There was no sight of her boyfriend with his hand protectively on any part of her body.  
“Sienna?” one of them dared to ask.  
She looked at him with tired eyes. She had been able to have a good sleep – mostly. But sometimes her emotions would take over her and she would start crying again. She guessed his worrying was rubbing off on her. “Yes?”  
“Where’s Master Sting?”  
“He had to go on an urgent job with Rogue in the middle of the night.”  
“In the middle of the night?” he asked surprised.  
“Yeah. I know. But it called for it.” She went to the bar and ordered some breakfast with a glass of water.  
Minutes later Minerva entered and also noticed that even though his girlfriend was here, the master was nowhere to be seen. She asked one of her guild mates about it and he told her. She nodded and went over to Sienna. “Good morning, Sienna.”  
She smiled slightly as she looked at Minerva. “Morning, Lady Minerva.”  
“So, I hear that Master Sting and Rogue went on a job during the night.”  
“Yes.”  
“Do you remember what it looked like?”  
She looked at her surprised. “Yeah, sure.”  
Minerva smiled pleased. “Good. Once you’ve finished your breakfast, I’ll get you something to draw on. By the way, do you know who’s acting master now?”  
“I am. He told me before he left.” Sienna looked around to see some kind of surprised expression, from anyone, but got nothing. Not one single Mage seemed surprised. It was obvious that they knew how their master worked. She smiled slightly. “But just like with Sting, you don’t have to refer to me as ‘Master’, just my first name’s fine.”  
“Of course,” they said in union.  
“Thank you,” she said shyly, turning back to her breakfast.  
“Then you’ll finally get to experience what it’s like to be a master,” Minerva said from beside her.  
“Yeah. I might have to do some paperwork.” The Nature Mage smiled guiltily. “Since he always ends up not doing it sometimes, no matter what I tell him.”  
She laughed softly. “Yeah. You and him alone in a room can only result in disaster.”  
Sienna moved an imaginary strand of hair behind her left ear and kept it there. “Maybe. But it’s a great disaster nonetheless.”  
Minerva smiled and nodded. Though she still noticed a slight flicker of pain in her conversation partner’s eyes. _Should I ask her about it? I doubt he would leave her on a bad note, so what happened?_  
The Nature Mage continued eating with her right hand, while her left was moving nervously up and down her neck. Only ever stopping when it reached her neck’s newest mark. _He’ll be fine. Stop worrying. He’s the master of this guild. If anyone can handle this, it’s him._ She bit her lip. _But never before has a job been so unspecific._ She brought her spoon to her mouth again and realised that there was no food on it. Then Sienna looked at her bowl to see it was empty. She looked at Minerva, who was silently sipping her drink next to her. “I guess I should try to copy the request now.”  
“Of course. Best to sound more forceful as well. Don’t want people to think that Sting chose the wrong person to replace him in his time of absence, do we?”  
“No,” she said with a slight smile.  
Minerva fetched a piece of paper and Sienna set to work, remembering every detail. Over time her memory had started improving, mostly when it came down to Sting or anything else she thought she should remember. Finally, she finished and showed it to the Territory Mage.  
She looked at it and frowned. “This really is vague.”  
“Yeah. I know. Rogue thought it was probably because they were in a hurry.”  
“And he’s the one who received it?”  
“Yes.”  
“I wonder how.”  
“Yeah. Should’ve asked him. But he was kinda in a hurry and just wanted Sting to come with him.”  
Minerva gave Sienna a serious look. “Do you want me to check it out?”  
“No.” She shook her head. “They’re really strong and powerful and can handle anything thrown at them. I trust them to finish this job, whatever it is, with no problem.”  
“It’s nice that you have so much faith in them.”  
Sienna gave her a knowing smile. “Of course, I do.”  
Suddenly someone entered the dining hall. “Master!”  
Sienna looked around flustered. She would have to get used to being called that by her guild mates. “What is it?”  
“Someone from the Magic Council is here, requesting your presence.”  
She slid off her chair and walked towards the main hall, every step with elegance and power. She opened the doors and stood face to face with a messenger.  
He looked at her surprised. “I was expecting Master Sting to come.”  
“Master Sting is unavailable at the moment. I am now his stand-in.”  
The messenger nodded. “Though it would be best for him to return soon. In three days, there will be a Guild Master’s Magic meeting.”  
Her face widened in shock. “In three days? But last time we got a bigger warning. Why would you alert us so late?”  
“We were held up.”  
“Then you could have just as well sent a letter.”  
He shook his head. “That is impossible, ma’am. Telling the masters about the meeting is something that has to be said personally.”  
“Okay. Fine.” She rubbed her neck slightly annoyed. “And what happens if the master’s not back within three days? Do I have to go then?”  
“Yes.”  
“Okay. Thank you for telling me.” She bowed down slightly.  
“Of course,” the messenger said and left.  
The moment the footsteps of the messenger had disappeared, Sienna sank to the ground. “Oh god. What have I gotten myself into?” She took a deep breath, slapped her cheeks, and stood up. “There’s no need to worry ’bout that now. I need to get some fitting clothes for it.” She started walking towards the exit when someone called her name.  
She turned around to see Rufus following her. “Where are you going?”  
“Out. I need to buy new clothes in case Sting’s not back in time.”  
“What are you talking about? Your clothes are fine.”  
“Really?” she asked, indicating her shorts, top and lifting up her hair to show her mark. “In what way is anything about this fine? I know I have other clothes, but I still need a scarf or something to cover ’em up.”  
“They look like vampire bites,” Minerva said, appearing.  
“Ah,” Sienna said in a high-pitched voice as a blush formed on her cheeks. “No, they’re different. He doesn’t actually ... um ... no.” She shook her head. “That’s beside the point. I need to go shopping.”  
Minerva let out a soft chuckle. “I know. I’m just saying. Do you want any of us to come with you?”  
Sienna looked from Minerva to Rufus. “Dunno. Not like any trouble’d arrive while I’m shopping. Though maybe you could help with choosing the right kinda clothes.”  
Minerva looked towards Rufus, who nodded.  
“I will come with you then,” the Memory Make Mage said.  
“Thank you.”  
As the pair walked towards the shops, Rufus asked, “Do you have any idea of what you are going to buy?”  
“None at all. All the masters wear such different clothes and they’re all acceptable. Even the master of Blue Pegasus has something acceptable.”  
Rufus nodded. “Perhaps a dress then.”  
“Yeah. I still have my green one, but a different colour might be good.”  
“Indeed. Perhaps a red one.”  
She smiled slightly. “Red does sound nice. It’ll go with my green hair and eyes.” She jumped a little in thought. “Then I could get a green scarf to go with it.”  
Another nod as they entered the first store. Sienna tried on various outfits, just to be sure than none of them were right for her. But Rufus dismissed every single one of them. Then finally they found a store that sold dresses. She grabbed the red one, this one with medium sized straps on either side and went to the changing room. When she came out her partner was smiling and nodding in approval.


	39. Plea for help

The meeting had come and gone and there was still no sight of the Twin Dragons. On her way out of the building Sienna was really starting to get worried. “Dammit, I shouldn’t be this worried. He’s strong. They’re strong. They should be fine.”  
“We can still look for them if you want.”  
She sighed and looked at Rufus walking beside her. “And how do you suppose we do that, Rufus? I can’t just leave the guild like that.”  
“We currently have no problems, so it should be fine if you went to look for him. We can use the request that you copied as a helping line.”  
“I know.” She was silent. “But it’s only been three days.”  
“And yet you still worry. Why is that?”  
“Because the request was so vague. I didn’t trust it.”  
“Isn’t that reason enough?”  
“I guess so. We should get going.”

On the other side of things Sting and Rogue were in what could only be described as trouble. They had no idea how they were still in this trouble since they had easily defeated this kind of enemy before. But the strange thing was, this enemy didn’t seem to want them dead. He had captured them, but apart from that he was just sitting there, seemingly waiting for something to happen.  
Sting tried to free himself from his chains again. “What do you want?” he asked annoyed.  
“I simply want to talk to you. Maybe also kill you once this is all over.”  
He glared at his capturer. “About what?”  
“About what your girlfriend said. My father still disagrees with what she had said that day, unfortunately.”  
“So what? What do we have to do with it?”  
The prince stood up and walked towards the pair. “I realised that she is more than just a beauty, so I want to talk to her again, see whether there is some kind of way in which she can convince my father. You are here because there is no way she wouldn’t come looking for you.”  
“You said you might kill us,” he said angrily.  
“Depending on how she is and how far I have to push her, yeah, maybe. You still took the chance of marrying someone beautiful away and I guess you could say I’m a bit salty about it.”  
“She’s far too good for you anyway, you bastard.”  
The prince shrugged. “We’ll see.”

Sienna and Rufus eventually found the place that had been listed on the job request.  
“It’s deserted here.” She looked towards her companion. “Do you know anything about this place?”  
He shook his head. “I have no memory of such a place having a population.”  
She got off the horse and tied it to a nearby rock. “It should be easy enough to find them, then.”  
“Indeed.” He started walking ahead of her. “Either way, we should be careful.”  
“Yeah, I know that.” As she continued walking, feeling the ground for the slightest bit of life, she sensed something. It was a feeling much like her own magic. “Rufus, wait.”  
He stopped and looked at her.  
“There’s a Nature Spirit here.” She balled her fists. “If one of them has laid a finger on my Sting, I will kill them.”  
“Sienna,” he warned.  
“Yeah.” She pointed towards a clear patch. “Over there.” She walked towards it and put her hand through it. The hand seemingly disappeared into the space of nothingness. “If this is anything like last time, you won’t be able to go inside without me disabling the shield.”  
“Surely one of my spells can break it.”  
“Maybe. You can try while I’m in there.”  
“You do realise that you are probably walking into a trap, right?”  
“I don’t care. If it means rescuing Sting and Rogue, I’ll do whatever it takes.” And with those words she went through the invisible force field. She reappeared again and as she had suspected saw Sting and Rogue tied up by vines. She looked up at the culprit and snarled. “Your Royal Highness.”  
He actually seemed surprised to see her there. “Sienna.”  
“Good thing you’re using my actual name this time around. So, mind telling me why they’re all tied up like that?”  
“I wanted to talk to you.” His voice had clearly changed, it was now meeker. It almost sounded like the voice of a child who wanted to explain something they had done wrong to their strict mother.  
She crossed her arms. “About what? And why did you have to kidnap them to do this? You surely could’ve come up with a less convoluted way to talk to me.”  
“I didn’t know how to. I came here by myself and could only think of this.”  
“By yourself. What, your guards abandoned you?”  
He shook his head. “This is all secret, even from my father.”  
She smiled in a serpentine manner. That alone was enough to make him reconsider kidnapping the people she cared about the most. “So, tell me, what’s so important that you can’t even tell your precious father about it?”  
“I-I agree with you. About what you said. Our society as a whole is bad. I just didn’t realise it until you told us like that. And I want to change it, I just don’t know how. I want you to talk to my father.”  
She frowned. “Why me?” she asked suspiciously. “If he didn’t want to listen to me back then, why would he listen to me now?”  
“If you explained everything properly, maybe you could...”  
She shook her head. “Your Royal Highness, as honoured as I am by the fact that I managed to convince a creep like you that your society’s bad, I don’t think I can do it now. I said everything there was to say at that moment and if they don’t see it, there’s nothing I can do to change that. And I can’t very well go stroll up to them and say, ‘Yo, your king’s wrong. Listen to what I, a foreigner who hurt many of your people, have to say.’ It just wouldn’t work out.”  
Much to everyone’s surprise, tears started forming in his eyes. “Please, I’m begging you. I’m sorry, okay? I really am. I shouldn’t have spoken to you the way I did and everything. I just don’t know how to make amends while our society still stinks. My father won’t even listen to anything I have to say.”  
Her voice softened. “If he won’t listen to you, why do you think he might listen to me?”  
“He did say that you would make a good daughter-in-law and that you were a good public speaker.”  
“And you think he’d still think that after all this time? A lot of time has passed.” She looked down at her tied-up boyfriend. “I’ll think about it. Let them go and if I decide to talk to them, I’ll come to your forest as soon as I can.”  
The prince knew this was the best he was going to get so he released his hostages.  
Sienna was kneeling by Sting’s side within seconds to check whether he had any injuries. Fortunately for the prince, Sting was entirely unharmed. She held onto his head and held hers to him closely. “You’re alright.”  
“Yeah. I’m fine. Just got annoyed at him.”  
She chuckled. “Of course, you did.” She kissed him. “I’m glad you’re safe now, honey.”  
“By your side, always.”  
The trio got up and walked towards the exit. Before she went through the gate, Sienna looked one last time at the prince standing on the other side. She smiled slightly at him in sympathy, then turned back again and left.  
The prince stood there, frozen. From the moment he had seen an image of her, he had thought her to be attractive, in the physical sense. That had been all that had mattered to him at the time. So, he had never considered the beauty that lay within her. He knew her boyfriend had probably realised that much earlier than him and that’s why they were so great together. _I wonder whether if the laws had been different, you could have met me before him and fallen in love with me,_ he thought sadly.


	40. Don’t go

Once back at the guild hall, Sting pretty much dragged Sienna to his office. And this time it clearly wasn’t for any kind of fun. “Say you’re not going.”  
“You really want to talk about it _now_?” she asked quietly.  
“When else? You’d probably leave the first chance you get.”  
“Who says I’m even going? I said I’d think about it, not actually go.”  
He looked at her with serious eyes. “’Cause it’s who you are. You want people to be treated right, you always have, that’s why you hated the old Sabertooth. Now you’re being asked by one of the people whose mind you managed to change to help you further. So of course, you’re going.”  
Her look was just as serious. “If you know I’m going, then why are you telling me to tell you I’m not?”  
“’Cause you shouldn’t. It could be a trap.”  
“No worse a trap than the one you walked into. At least I have all the power I need on my side there.”  
“You actually think you can take ’em on?” he said angrily. “We barely managed as a group, how the fuck do you expect that to work out for you?”  
“Because unlike last time, I’m just there for a diplomatic conversation with the king.”  
“So what? He’s still gonna be a creep. D’ya actually think you can have a normal conversation with him?”  
“Yes,” she said simply, yet firmly.  
“Why?”  
“I just do.” She looked at him with such a serious face that he was almost scared of what she was going to say next. “But if you don’t believe in me or my strength, you can always tag along if you want.”  
Only one word passed through his mind: crap. He had actually made her mad. He knew that he had also said things to her angrily, but he stupidly hadn’t thought of how his words and previous actions would turn against him like this. “Sienna,” he said calmly.  
Nothing about her wavered as she neared him. “Yes, Sting?”  
“I-I didn't meant to. I’m sorry.”  
“Sorry ’bout what, babe?”  
“That I said you shouldn’t go.”  
She shook her head. “Sting, seriously.” She was now standing centimetres apart from him. “I am angry about the fact that you don’t want me to go, but you shouldn’t apologise. I should. I’m sorry. I understand your worry all too well.”  
“But the way you spoke...”  
She smiled at him stiffly. “I am pissed about so many things at the moment, you just kinda made it worse. I just don’t want you there. Anyone else would be better suited because I have a feeling you’re more likely to stir things up.”  
“Am not,” he protested.  
“How would you react to seeing the king?”  
“I’d want to kick his ass, but I think I wouldn’t.”  
“You said think, Sting. I need certainty that there won’t be any fighting if not necessary. But you love fighting, it’s one of the things I love about you. But it’d be too big of a risk.”  
“Who will you take then?”  
“Rogue.”  
He stared at her dumbfounded. It made sense in a lot of ways; Rogue was the calmer one of the two of them after all. But for some reason he still hated the thought of his partner and girlfriend going to this magical forest together, alone.  
A sigh. “Don’t say you’re jealous.”  
“Of course not,” he said, snapping back to the present. “It’s fine. Go with him.”  
“Sting.”  
“It’s stupid anyway. I trust the both of you.”  
“Good.” She stood on her toes, kissed him, and gently patted his cheek. “See you soon, honey. I love you.”  
“I love you too, princess.”


	41. Meeting with the king

So, Rogue went along with Sienna to the forest he had broken in mere months ago. Everything had been explained to him in clear detail of what was going to happen. It was a simple mission, the only payment being possible peace among the Nature Spirits. He sighed and looked next to him. Sienna was walking with a content smile on her face, supposedly looking forward to the meeting.  
“Are you alright?” he asked.  
“Yeah. It should be fine. I’m also kinda curious as to what it’s turned into.”  
“I hope there are no riots.”  
“Same, Rogue. As disgusting as their society may have been, they shouldn’t go rioting. That’s why I want to try and talk to the king. Try and make him see reason.”  
“And if he doesn’t?”  
“Best to see when it comes to that. I’m not even sure to what extent he would want to listen to me. But I’d hate not trying.”  
He nodded. “I understand.”  
They eventually made it to the forest. Rogue touched the barrier and for some reason unknown to him, his hand went through. So, he followed the Nature Mage, in hopes of getting this over and done with.  
The moment Sienna entered the forest, she gasped. The former beauty that it had once held was almost completely gone. The trees still shone ethereally, and the houses looked as nice as ever. But the aura had taken a one-eighty and it could be felt in her very essence. She looked at her companion and saw that he was looking more puzzled than horrified. She presumed it was due to the fact that he wasn’t as connected to nature as her.  
“We should get going,” she said softly.  
“Yeah.”  
“Sienna,” the excited voice of the prince said. “You came.”  
“Yeah. So, where’s your father? There’s apparently more I need to talk to him about than I first thought.”  
“I’ll show you.” He beckoned her. “You can also come if you want, ...” He looked at Rogue unsurely.  
“Rogue. My name is Rogue Cheney.”  
“Of course. Rogue.”  
“You know, for someone who’s partially responsible for his land’s collapsing, you seem pretty chipper,” Sienna stated.  
“It’s because I’m happy to see you.”  
She looked at him with displeasure. “What?”  
“Don’t worry. I won’t try to marry you again. I’m just happy that I got the chance to meet you for real, after I realised how much of an asshole I was.”  
She scoffed. “Well at least you realised.”  
The pair followed the prince to the palace, which was so much bigger than either of them had imagined. He walked past the guards with ease and indicated that they were guests. The guards bowed and let the trio pass. Then they went up countless stairs until they finally made it to the throne room.  
“Here it is.” He opened the door and let them enter the room, where they saw the big king sitting on his throne without a care in the world.  
The king lifted his head and looked at his son, then the two others standing behind him. “What is the meaning of this, Jack?”  
Sienna couldn’t help but let out a small laugh. “Jack?”  
He looked at her pained. “What?”  
She shook her head, while the smile remained. “Nothing. I just didn’t expect the prince of the Nature Spirits to have such a normal name.”  
“Jack,” the king said in a commanding voice. “What is the meaning of this?”  
Instead of answering, he stepped to the side to let Sienna face the king properly. She bowed deeply and said, “Your Majesty, I would like to talk to you about something.”  
“About how rejecting my son was a mistake?”  
She straightened up and shook her head. “No. Your son and I are of the agreement that it was best that way. What I want to talk about is your people, this forest.”  
“What of it?”  
“Have you noticed it changing in any way?”  
He frowned annoyed. “Seems gloomier, but it’s probably just some off season.”  
She shook her head. “What about the people?”  
He looked at her like she had just asked the dumbest question ever. “What about them?”  
“Have you seen them? Do they seem upset in any way to you?”  
“What do I care? It’s their lives. I’ve got mine; they’ve got theirs. It’s best if it stays that way.”  
“Don’t you think a king should take care of his subjects? Otherwise you are not a good king.”  
He laughed. “Oh, that’s a good one. Why should I care about any of them? They give me what I want when I ask for it. It’s such a fun game.”  
Sienna’s anger was on a leash she hoped wouldn’t break. “So, you rule them with power? With fear?”  
He shrugged. “Yeah. Why not?”  
She neared him. “Because that’s not what a good king does. He cares about his subordinates, their wellbeing and everything, he tries to make the place they live in a nice and welcoming place. So, when they’re happy, he’s happy.”  
He scoffed. “What kind of nonsense are you spouting, girl?”  
That moment both Jack and Rogue knew that the king had made a terrible mistake. This fact was proven right when there was a thorn aimed at his heart.  
“Want to see whether the people of this forest care if their king dies?”  
“You wouldn’t dare.”  
She smiled darkly. “Try me. I don’t usually do this kind of stuff, but I’m willing to make an exception on your account.”  
“Sienna, don’t,” Rogue said.  
She took in a deep breath. “Wait outside, Rogue.”  
“No. I came here to accompany you.”  
“And you’ve been doing great so far. So just wait outside, for a little bit. It’ll be fine.”  
“I don’t think Sting would agree.”  
She looked at him doubtfully as she held the king down. “Didn’t Sting blast a hole through Jiemma, supposedly killing him? How is this any different?”  
“Because...”  
“I’m listening, Rogue.”  
He sighed. “Let’s go wait outside, Frosh.”  
The Exceed followed its partner while looking at Sienna confused.  
“You should also go, Jack.”  
“No. I want to see it.”  
“If you’re sure. Are you prepared to be king?”  
“Yes,” he said dutifully.  
“Good. Now sleep tight former king of the Nature Spirits.” No sound was made when the former king slumped back in his throne. Sienna got up and looked at Jack, who was looking at her speechless. She walked over to him and lightly tapped his cheek. “Jack.”  
He snapped back to reality straight away.  
“You okay?”  
“Is it wrong that I think what you just did is amazing?”  
“It shows how wrong your relationship with your father was. I’m gonna go now, okay? I’m sorry it turned out like this, but you’re gonna hafta do everything now with the help of those willing to.”  
“Why are you treating me so kindly?”  
“’Cause you clearly need it at the moment. I can see that you’ve changed for the better. You probably still have a far way to go, but you’re on the right track.”  
“You’re an angel.”  
She chuckled. “No, just half Nature Spirit. Which of course you knew. I should get going before any guards figure out what I did. Goodbye, Jack.”  
“Bye, Sienna.”  
Then Sienna, Rogue and Frosch left, pretending that the king hadn’t just been murdered.  
Once the trio had left the palace, Jack pretended to have found the dead body of his father. He fake cried and did everything that a son who had just lost his father to bloody murder would do. The guards said they would search the castle, the grounds for any potential suspects. He nodded sadly, knowing that the true culprit would never be found.  
That night Jack lay awake in bed, thinking about his crowning ceremony the next day. Though next to that his thoughts kept going to the green-haired woman who had helped him. If anything had been different, to the way he had treated her the first day they met, to the moment where he had held the man she loved hostage, he wondered whether they could have actually been friends. _I hope that when I get married, they would at least be half as great as you are, Sienna._


	42. Transgression

On the way back Sienna said nothing, too drained from everything that had happened. She hadn’t realised how draining the whole ordeal, from the moment Sting had left her in charge, had been until the moment she had left the forest. She presumed like always the nature around her had given her strength.  
When the trio made it back to the guild, the first words out of her mouth were, “Where is he?”  
“In his office.”  
“Actually doing the paperwork?”  
“Yes, but it was almost done.”  
She nodded. “Thanks.” She started walking absentmindedly towards the office. When she reached the door, her hand hovered over the doorknob, unable to open it. She didn’t know what she would do or say when she saw him, she just wanted to be near him. But she knew he would ask. Her hand moved up and down. However, before a decision could be made, the door swung open. She didn’t give him a chance to say anything and went in for a tight embrace.  
“Love, what’s wrong?” Sting asked concerned.  
She shook her head. She didn’t even want to talk at the moment.  
He held onto her with one hand and traced her hair with another. “I’m almost done. Do you want to stay with me for a bit until I am?”  
She nodded.  
“Okay.” He moved his lower hand to her lower thigh so he could pick her up easily. Then he carried her over to his chair. He sat down and positioned her so she was sitting on his lap. His right hand was now wrapped around her, while he held the document he had been reading with his other hand.  
When he was almost done, Sienna let out a small peep. He looked down at her concerned. “Sienna?”  
“I killed someone,” she said in a small voice.  
“What?”  
“The king. I killed him.” She balled her fists. “I didn’t want you to come along so you wouldn’t do anything reckless and I killed him.”  
“Why?” He was starting to freak out slightly but didn’t want to show it at the moment. There would be plenty of time for that later.  
“’Cause he didn’t care for his people. I thought his son would be a better king and left the kingdom in his hands.”  
“I understand, love.”  
She looked up at him in disbelief. “How can you understand, Sting? I just did something horrible. Aren’t you mad at me or something?”  
“I’m surprised, but not mad. He deserved it. Though that was extremely reckless and could’ve gotten you in trouble.”  
“I know, okay? I know. And I don’t even regret doing it which is worse. ’Cause I know taking a life is wrong, even if it’s a bastard like him. It just feels so strange right now.”  
He held her tightly and nuzzled her. “I bet it does. But you shouldn’t feel bad ’bout it ’cause in this case you did do the right thing. You helped a lot of people with what you did.”  
She had started shaking. “I love you so much, Sting. You have no idea.”  
He moved his head slightly and ghost kissed her. In return she sighed before grabbing his jacket and pulling him down for a proper kiss.  
“Scrap that, I hate you.”  
He grinned. “Too late, princess. You said it and I heard it.”  
She smiled at him lovingly. “True.” She straightened up and looked at him fondly. “Very much so, Master.” She softly played with his hair.  
He leant downwards so he could take her into another kiss. He softly started stroking her cheek. “Wanna cuddle?”  
She looked at him fondly. “Yes.”


	43. The prelude to battle

The Alvarez Empire had declared war on Fairy Tail to get its prized possession the Fairy Heart. Of course, Sabertooth joined in the fray.  
In preparation for the battle against Alvarez, Sting was looking at his girlfriend seriously.  
She looked at him in understanding. “You’re thinking of leaving me here, right?”  
He nodded and looked away.  
She sighed. “Sting. I love you. You know I do. And that means that I’m willing to do anything to please you. But I can’t just stay behind, I’m sorry. I’m still a Sabertooth Mage, a strong one at that, and I will do anything in my power to protect the innocent.”  
He nodded and kissed her. “Not as much as I love you, princess,” he said as he tenderly brushed her lips with his thumb. “We should get going.”  
Sienna nodded and followed the Master of Sabertooth to the battlefield.  
As they were walking, Sting asked Sienna, “Any chance of your extended family coming to help us?”  
She bit the inside of her mouth uncomfortably. “Don’t think so, no,” she said in a quiet voice. “Even though they have become better as a society under Jack’s rule, I don’t think he can just order them to come and help us. It’d be weird as one of his big orders as the new king. And, you know, not many people know about them, so it’d be weird.”  
He sighed. “Figured.” He shrugged. “We should be fine, though.”  
She smiled brightly at him. “’Course. We’re the former strongest guild in all of Fiore after all.”  
He smiled in return. “That we are.”


	44. Tied to a cross

Once they arrived at the north, the Mages of Sabertooth and Blue Pegasus started the battle against Alvarez’s army. They managed to initially overwhelm the enemies. But the tides turned once they noticed the Mages dying at the hands of Bloodman who posed a great threat.  
Eventually Bloodman left, giving the Mages a bit of time to recover. However, this didn’t last long as they were attacked by someone with another sort of mercilessness to him. He effortlessly defeated the Mages to near unconsciousness and with the help of his allies tied them onto stakes to parade with.  
Out of everyone, Sienna had been the closest to consciousness so the moment she had seen Sting and everyone else being tied up, she had started struggling while trying to cry out their names. However, it had been unsuccessful as the Mage in charge of her dragged her to her own stake and tied her up. Every part of her being was fighting against it, but none of it was winning. She closed her eyes, thinking of happy thoughts. Those would help her through this. Happy thoughts. “Sting, don’t die,” she said barely louder than a whisper before she too joined her comrades in the world of unconsciousness.

An unknown period of time later Sienna was woken up again by Levy. She gasped and inhaled raggedly. “Sting.”  
Levy indicated her head to where the Master of Sabertooth was clearly blaming himself for what had happened.  
Sienna got up, thanked the Mage, and walked towards him.  
Before she could console him however Yukino slapped him out of his daze and said that he should not be blaming himself.  
She winced in sympathy before she knelt in front of him and took his hands. “She’s right, Sting. None of this is your fault. And if you want to push blame onto someone, blame us for not being able to protect our Master or the more realistic thing, blame the bastards who hurt us. We may have been beaten now, but that doesn’t mean that we have lost the war.” She smiled at him. “Are you ready for round two?”  
For one of the few times in his life, he was dumbstruck by his girlfriend’s words. A small smile formed on his lips. "You're right, princess." He got up, ready to lead the charge again against the enemy.


	45. Fiore falls under a spell

Sometime later Sting was caught in the light of Irene Belserion Universe One and was warped to a new location.  
Thanks to the help of Freed, Sting, after a while, made his way to the Fairy Tail guild’s location. Just in time as it appeared.  
He rescued Lector, Frosh, Yukino and Kagura from Larcade, whose light-based attacks had no effect on him. Larcade cast a spell that caused Sting and his friends to become famished, forcing Sting to knock the others unconscious to stop them from devouring each other. As Sting was trying his best to defeat Larcade, Minerva teleported Rogue to him. Rogue in turn fed with his own shadow magic to Sting, allowing him to enter White-Shadow Dragon Mode as Larcade was preparing an attack to put him into eternal sleep.  
Sting's White-Shadow Dragon Mode gave him an advantage against Larcade. Larcade in turn countered with a spell that almost put Sting and the other wizards into a sleep-like death. With the help of Kagura's Gravity Magic, Sting merged with his own shadow to resist Larcade's spell and defeat him.

While all that had been going on, Sienna had been fighting to the best of her abilities besides Minerva. She was still shaken up about what had happened earlier, but she couldn’t show it now. Not when a clear mind was so important.  
After Minerva had replaced Rogue with Yukino, the group had run over to the battle scene. The moment Sienna laid her eyes on the tired Sting, smiling at her; she flung her arms around his neck and rested her head against his chest.  
“You’re alright,” she said barely louder than a whisper.  
He gently rubbed her back in comfort. “Yeah. How are you?”  
Instead of giving an answer, she nuzzled against him.  
“Sienna?”  
As she was nuzzling him, she felt something sticky on his torso. She removed her head from it and looked. Then let out a small whimper.  
He stroked her head reassuringly and stroked her cheek in comfort. “It’s not that bad, love. I hardly even feel anything.” It was true, even though he had two deep cuts on him, at the moment he felt no pain.  
She carefully inspected them. “What happened to your shoulder?”  
“He penetrated it with a cross.”  
She looked towards the near-unconscious body of Larcade, then smiled. “Good thing you defeated him then.”  
He chuckled lightly and smiled. “You saying you’d have hurt him otherwise?”  
She grinned at him. “’Course, cause no one hurts my baby and gets away with it.”  
He stroked her head and pulled her in for a kiss. “Funny. That sounds like something I’d say.”  
The couples rested in each other’s arms, tired in all kinds of ways. However, they knew that this was a war and that there would be plenty of time to rest later. So, Sienna helped Sting up so he could lean on her and they started walking back towards the battlefield.


	46. Victory

They were so close to the others right now that they could clearly see them. Suddenly, the weight on Sienna’s shoulders disappeared. She looked around in shock, her boyfriend was gone.  
“Sting?” she asked fearfully.  
“Sting and Rogue just disappeared,” Lector said shocked.  
“Wh-wh-what?” Sienna forced herself to calm down. She looked at Minerva. “A kind of Space spell?”  
She nodded. “I presume so, yes. But I can’t sense him or Rogue.”  
She started shaking as tears formed in her eyes. “Baby, no. Please, be okay.”  
They met up with the other Mages and it was revealed that all of the Dragon Slayers had disappeared. They had been moved to somewhere where they would have to face Acnologia’s spiritual form, while the mages in Magnolia faced his physical form.  
Lucy devised a plan to trap Acnologia's mindless body within the only spell Acnologia has failed to overcome: Fairy Sphere. Lucy, Levy, Freed, Panther Lily, Happy and Master Makarov went to the guild hall to obtain the book containing Fairy Sphere's instructions. Meanwhile the other wizards used their magic to lure Acnologia to Hargeon since he was attracted to powerful magic. There they intended to use one of Alvarez's abandoned ships to temporarily immobilise him with his own motion sickness. Upon everyone’s arrival, however, Acnologia sensed the threat and instinctively destroyed the entire fleet.  
Gray and Lyon created a new ship made of ice, while Erza forced Acnologia's body onto it with her weaponry. Lucy used all of Fairy Tail's magic to cast Fairy Sphere on Acnologia while he was afflicted, but their powers were insufficient. As Acnologia started breaking free, Merudy arrived after contacting other wizards across Ishgar and used her Magilty Sense to reinforce Lucy's magic with theirs, which successfully immobilised Acnologia.  
Acnologia’s spirit was immobilised thanks to Fairy Sphere’s power. This allowed Natsu to destroy him with the dragon slayers’ combined magic, which also destroyed Acnologia’s body.  
While everyone was celebrating Acnologia’s defeat, the sky started cracking. The people looked on in anticipation and saw the dragon slayers falling from the time rift.  
Sienna noticed Sting falling and ran over as fast as she could while making a cushion out of her vines. Once she was by his side, she pulled him into a hug and started crying. Not a second later Lector was also holding onto him with tears streaming down his face.  
Sting gave Lector a quick rub before he properly pulled Sienna into a hug. “It’s all right, princess.”  
“It better be, you idiot. I was so worried about you. Don’t leave me like that again.”  
He held her close and kissed her temple. “I won’t, it’s a promise.”


	47. Aftermath

Even as people started to leave, Sienna wouldn’t let go of Sting.  
“Sienna?” Sting asked worriedly.  
“Love you,” she said in a small voice. “Love you so much.”  
He nuzzled her head and kissed her forehead. “I love you so much as well, love. We should go home.”  
She nodded but didn’t move.  
“Can you walk?” He had an idea as to what the answer would be, but he needed to be sure.  
She shook her head weakly. The moment she had pulled him into a hug, all her experience of the war had come together and drained her energy. The only thing keeping her upright at the moment was Sting.  
He nodded, lowered his arms, and picked her up bridal style. Throughout the whole process, Sienna’s arms held him tight.  
She leant against him. “Baby’s alright, he’s alright.”  
He started walking. “Yeah. I’m alright,” he said in a gentle voice.  
“He defeated a dragon.”  
“Helped defeat. It was all of us.”  
“He’s strong. Baby won’t die that easily.”  
That was the moment Sting realised that she wasn’t actually talking to him but to herself. In some ways he hoped this would help reassure her that he was alright and would stay that way. He wanted to pull her into another hug but knew this could wait. He needed to get her home.  
However, it would have taken hours to reach the Sabertooth guild hall, so the guild members decided to stop at an inn. As always when he travelled with Sienna, he paid for a double bed. He carefully placed her on it, but her body refused to let go.  
He had to force himself not to cry. “Love, it’s alright. I’m just gonna get something to eat and drink.” His voice had broken.  
She looked at him with vacant eyes. “I should do that.”  
“What?”  
“I serve my master.” She looked away from him. “That’s how it is, right? A lot happened, I forgot. But I know you’re my master.”  
“I’d say boyfriend in this case.”  
Tears started forming in her eyes. “Am I wrong? I’m wrong. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”  
His panicked self managed to pull her into a hug. “No need to apologise, love. You’re right, okay. But just for a bit I’ll serve you. Until you’re better and then we can do whatever you want.”  
“I want … you to be safe.”  
He nodded, held close against her. “I will be. Don’t worry, love. It’s all over now.”  
She nuzzled against him. “I love you, baby,” she said tiredly. “Please don’t go. I don’t want to eat. Call someone.”  
“I will.”  
She nodded.  
“But that still means you’ll have to let go for a bit, okay?”  
“Yes, Master.”  
It was the first and hopefully the last time when her calling him by his title would make him feel uneasy. He couldn’t believe that after all that had happened, the thing most prominent in her mind was that he was her master, that she was there to serve him. They had played around with title often, but he had never intended her to take it that seriously. Or maybe it had happened without him realising it. It felt like he had been punched in the gut. He would make sure to change things in the future. That was if Sienna was alright with it.  
Sting got up, slowly walked towards the Communications Lacrima on the table and called up one of his guild mates. He politely asked them to bring over some food and drinks. He turned back to look at Sienna. At some point during all this, tears had formed in his eyes.  
The moment Sienna noticed them, she curled herself up into a ball. “I’m making you sad, I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Please, baby, don’t cry. Don’t cry.”  
He quickly wiped them away. “I’m not crying.” He went over to her. “I just got something in my eye is all. And you know, since I have heightened senses, it felt even more irritating.” It felt terrible lying to her like that, but at the moment he felt he had no other choice.  
She looked up into his eyes. “But it’s gone now?”  
He nodded. “Yeah.”  
She smiled weakly. “That’s good.” She swayed slightly. “’Cause I don’t want to see you sad. You’re … you’re too bright. If you’re sad, the world’s so much darker.”  
He gently placed his head against hers. “In that case I won’t cry. I’ll stay happy to keep your world alight.”  
She yawned, leant against him, and closed her eyes. “Thank you, Master,” she said and fell asleep.  
This time he couldn’t stop the tears that formed in his eyes streaming down his face. He tried to stop them by wiping them away with his arm, but they wouldn’t stop. He really shouldn’t have let her come along.  
A part of him now thought that locking her up in their room would have been better, even if she had protested and shouted at him. But that would have gone against her wishes and he couldn’t have done that. What she wanted came above everything else. Even if it resulted in something horrible … like this.


	48. My equal

Sienna was slowly eating breakfast in bed while Sting looked at her anxiously.  
“Is it good?”  
She nodded. “Yeah. Thanks. Who made it?”  
“Milady. I wanted to but she said it’d be best if she did it.”  
She gave him a small, affectionate smile. “That’s probably true. You’re not exactly known for your cooking skills, Sting. I would … rather say it’s the opposite.” She looked down in shame. Even after days, just talking had become too tiring for her. It was like every single little thing required more energy than usual. She looked at Sting. “I’m sorry.”  
“Huh? Why?”  
“For … for being so weak. If I’d been stronger then maybe … um…”  
Sting had her in a hug before she could come up with anything more. Both his hands held onto her head. “Love, you’re not weak, even if you were, this isn’t your fault. Everyone reacts differently to bad events and this is how you reacted. There’s nothing wrong with that.” He kissed her forehead and looked into her eyes. “Okay, love?”  
She nodded; a small smile had formed on her lips. “But your duties as … Guild Master.”  
“Nothing’s happening, so it’s all good. Don’t worry ’bout it.” He gave her a reassuring smile.  
Sienna glanced at the smile before continuing her breakfast. It was nice that no matter what had happened, he was still there by her side, smiling like that.  
After some silence, Sting said unsurely, “Hey, um … Sienna, can I ask you somethin’?”  
“Yeah.”  
“If it’s too early I’m sorry. Just kinda want to get it out of the way. You know, as much as I order you around and like it when you call me ‘Master’, you don’t have to see me in that way. I mean …” He rubbed his head annoyed. It had been on his mind for days and he still couldn’t think of how to word it. “You’re my equal, okay. In every way. I’ve never seen you as lesser than me. You’re too amazing to be seen as anything less.”  
She looked at him confused and embarrassed. “Sting, what … what are you talking about? Did something happen?” She took in a deep breath. “I mean … thank you but um… Why are you saying this?”  
He looked at her dumbfounded. “A ... a few days ago, after the battle. Don’t you remember?”  
She looked down in thought. When she realised she couldn’t remember any of the events, beside the fact that they had won, she seemed ready to cry. “What… What happened?” She looked at him desperately. “Sting, what happened? I mean, I know you and everyone … were in danger. But I can’t … remember anything, the details.”  
He put her bowl to the side and hugged her. “It’s alright. We won. That’s what’s important, okay, love. We won.”  
“But … what about what you said? What... What did I do? Say?”  
“You really wanna know?”  
Sienna nodded. “Please tell me.”  
He straightened up and took her hands. “So, we went to a place to stay for the night. You were really freaked out and you’d um … forgotten a lot of stuff. But there was one thing that you’d remembered.” He looked into her eyes. Having to verbalise it felt so weird.  
“What?”  
He looked down, actually feeling ready to cry. It felt like somehow he had failed her as her boyfriend.  
“Sting?” Her voice had softened slightly.  
“That you serve me.”  
She blinked surprised. Even though she wasn’t entirely surprised that her mind had gone there, it was surprising that it was the only thing she had remembered. She had a loving boyfriend, so why had her mind gone in that direction? “The mind’s … a strange thing, that’s for sure.” She rubbed his back in comfort. “I guess I enjoy it more than I let on.”  
He looked at her in wide-eyed surprise. “Huh?”  
“What’s… What’s so surprising about that?” She gave him a feeble smile. “You know I love serving my master, Sting. Because I love him more than anyone else. I trust him when it comes down to his orders. It’s just … nice. But for now … I won’t be able to. So, I’m sorry.”  
He shook his head, actually surprised by how nicely she had put it all into words. “It’s alright. Just… Just get better, okay. There’s no hurry or anythin’, take your time. I’ll be there for you.”  
She smiled at him lovingly. “Thank you.” She grinned at him, though it was with clear effort. “Master Sting.”  
He sighed with a slight smile and shook his head. “Princess, I never thought I’d say this, but I feel like you’re being an idiot.”  
She chuckled slightly. “What? Why? ’Cause I called you by your title?” She said in his ear, “Or would you rather have me call you ‘master baby’?”  
Slight annoyance entered his eyes. “You forget so much, but remember that?”  
“Sorry.” She leant against his shoulder and held onto his hand. “Guess my brain won’t get rid of stuff … to tease you with.”  
He nuzzled her forehead before kissing it. “We’ll see about that. In case you’ve forgotten, never call me by that title again.”  
She nodded. “’Course. You don’t deserve such dis-disrespect after all.” Her body had weakened so much that it no longer could remain upright. She fell onto Sting’s lap. “Will you go down today?”  
“Maybe later. Gotta make sure you’re alright first.”  
“Just tired.”  
He gently stroked her head with his free hand. “Rest then.”  
She nodded. “Hh-mmm. Baby,” she said tiredly.  
“Hm?”  
“Sorry for worrying you. Guess it was too much. But I’ll… I’ll get better. Maybe not how I used to be, but … close to how … I was.” She looked up at him. “Okay?”  
He nodded. “Sounds perfect, princess.”  
She gave him a tired smile before she fell asleep again. Sting remained in the same position, content with being his girlfriend’s pillow.


	49. Downtime

A bit more than a week had passed since the end of the war. The couple had just woken up and Sting was prepared for the day ahead. He got out of bed and looked at the woman still lying in bed. “Are you gonna get up?”  
“I ... don’t know.”  
Ever since the battle had ended, she had been like this, almost unresponsive to anything but him. He tried to play it cool but deep down it was eating him alive seeing her like this. He knew of course that showing her this would not help in the slightest. He didn’t even know what could help her apart from time and rest. That’s what the healer Porlyusica had told him. He lay next to her again, on the bed sheets. “Do you wanna talk about it?”  
She looked down sadly. The action had caused her eyes to go to his bare chest, where there were now two scars. Her hand reached out and traced over them. “I should be happy. There were so many times when you could have died ... but you didn’t. You lived through all of it. It’s amazing. But when I’m here, anywhere, my mind keeps giving me flashes of everything we went through. I’m so scared. So scared about the fact that I could have lost all of you. It feels like I almost died. It feels so real. There was so much pain, so much suffering. It’s not fair, Sting. Why? Why did all of that have to happen?”  
He hugged her close, both hands holding onto her head. “I don’t know. We joined because they had to be protected. I should have left you here. I’m sorry.”  
She shook her head. “Not what I’m saying. There was no way you could have left me here and I’d be alright with that, you know that. As horrible as it was, I don’t regret fighting. I did my best, like everyone else and we won. That’s good.”  
“That’s true, love. Very true.”  
“Aren’t you going?”  
“I’d rather spend my time here with you than go out.”  
She let out a weak chuckle. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea, Master Sting.”  
He pulled his face away and looked at her with a daring smile. “And why is that?”  
“Because you could get in a lot of trouble with the others if you decide to stay here.”  
“They’d understand. My girlfriend needs me at the moment.”  
This time a soft chuckle escaped her mouth. “Maybe. But you can’t always prioritise me over other things.”  
He knelt down and kissed her. “Maybe not always, but for now I will. How does that sound, love?”  
She looked at him lovingly. “Very good. I’m looking forward to a future with you.”  
He looked at her dumbfounded as a blush started forming on his cheeks.  
She smiled and hugged him. “I can’t believe you’re surprised by that, you idiot. It’s pretty obvious that this was a serious thing. Definitely how you reacted to seeing me in a wedding dress.”  
“It’s not that. It’s that you never said something like that before.”  
“Would you rather have me say it more then?” As terrible as she felt, she was living for making her boyfriend blush.  
“I don’t know,” he said unsurely.  
She put her hand on his head and moved in for another kiss. “My precious baby, you are so adorable.”  
“Shut up.”  
“Sure thing, Master,” she said and went in for another hug, placing her ear where his heart was located.  
“I love you, princess,” he said once he was sure she was asleep. “So, one day you will become my bride.”


	50. The gift

A week later Sting was pacing outside a jewelry shop, waiting for it to open. The moment the sign changed from CLOSED to OPEN, he almost broke the door down in entering the shop.  
The employee was shocked at seeing this display, but gave him a kind smile, nonetheless. “Hello. How may I help you?”  
“I made an order a while ago for a necklace. They said it was gonna be done by today. Is it?”  
“May I have your name please?”  
“Sting Eucliffe.”  
He took out a book where all transactions and orders were written in and looked up Sting’s name. When he spotted it, he smiled and nodded. “It is ready. Would you like it wrapped up?”  
“Yeah.”  
“Of course. Just a second.” He went to the back and came out with a small box. He opened it up to show the necklace to Sting.  
He smiled at the sight and nodded. “Perfect. Thanks.” He paid the man, took the wrapped-up necklace, and went back to the guild.  
There he greeted everyone who was already up before he ran towards his room. He swung open the door only to have it smashed shut again in his face.  
“Sienna?” he asked worriedly. Was she mad at him for some reason? What could have possibly happened between him leaving her and coming back?  
“Getting changed,” she said in a small voice.  
Sting stood on the stop frozen for a second. “Wait… You’re actually coming out?”  
“Yeah. Please don’t make a big deal out of it.”  
He had started smiling but shook his head. “No. No. Of course not. It’s just nice.”  
She opened the door and greeted him with a small smile and tired eyes. “Your voice says otherwise, Sting.” Her smile softened at the sight of his. “I don’t think I’ve ever told you how much I truly love your smile.”  
A small blush dusted his cheeks. He shook his head. “You haven’t.”  
She took his free hand in hers. “Well I do. It’s like a bright light in my dark days.” She leant against his shoulder and chuckled brokenly. “I know it’s ridiculous. I’m sorry. I guess I should … try to eat something.”  
He held onto her hand. “Yeah. Let’s go.”  
As they walked towards the dining area, Sienna noticed Sting holding onto a box.  
“What’s that?”  
“Something for later.”  
“Huh? What?”  
He shook his head. “Not gonna tell ya, princess.”  
“Ok.” She kissed his cheek and said in his ear, “Master.”  
He looked at her mildly amused. “See you really do like calling me that, princess.” She looked down shyly and caressed his cheek. “Of course. Though I honestly sometimes prefer ‘cutest master’.”  
He looked down at her fondly and kissed her forehead. “Yeah. Only you’d ever call me that.”  
A small smile formed on her lips as she nodded.  
They made it to the dining room and Sienna ordered something small along with water. She sat at a table and Sting sat next to her.  
As she was eating, she noticed her boyfriend holding onto the small wrapped up box like it was one of the most important things in his life. _I really wonder what it is._ She shook her head and sighed, too tired to think more about it.  
However, soon enough she was full and pushed her plate to the side.  
“Huh? Sienna, you’ve eaten hardly anything.”  
“I’m sorry, baby, I can’t. I’m already so full.” She finished her glass in one gulp. “At least I’m drinking enough.”  
“I guess.” He looked at the plate. _At least she ate most of it. But even that’s not much._ He took her hand and led her outside the room. In the whole process she was looking at him confused.  
Sting brought forward the small box. “I brought you something. I know it’s small compared to everything else I’ve gotten you, but it’s more like a kinda reminder. That I’m here for you no matter what and …” He stopped talking and handed her the box. “Just open it.”  
“Sting?” Tears had already formed in her eyes. A part of her wanted to know how that sentence was going to end, but most of her was so overcome with emotions about what he had said that she couldn’t bring herself to ask.  
She carefully unwrapped the box and opened it. There in was a necklace with a white crystalline pendant on it. Her eyes widened in shock as they moved up to look at his earring. It was like a twin to his gift. But at the same time it felt like it's other half. She started shaking as tears started forming in her eyes. “You’re such an idiot,” she said barely louder than a whisper. She wrapped her arms around him and sobbed into his chest.  
He held onto her tightly and gently rocked her back and forth. “It’s alright, love.”  
“Mhm.” After she had calmed down a bit, she continued in the same quiet voice, “I also know how you were gonna end your sentence.”  
“How?”  
“That no matter what, I am yours.” She removed her head from his chest and looked up at him. “Why were you so shy about saying it?”  
A red tinge reentered his cheeks. “‘Cause we don’t really do that kinda stuff anymore.”  
She shook her head and smiled at him lovingly as she played with the tufts of his hair. “Baby, you know I’ll always be yours no matter what we do in private or anywhere for that matter.”  
He held her close and kissed her forehead. “And I’m yours.”


	51. The agreement

Sting had been mulling over an idea for the past few days. Tonight, he figured would be a good time to bring it up. So now here he was, with Sienna in his arms. “Got an idea for somethin’. Think about it, okay? Don’t let your body decide.”  
“Huh?” Her wide, confused eyes turned to look at him.  
He chuckled. “Since you like calling me ‘Master’ so much and following my orders, let’s turn it into a full-time thing. If you want it to stop at any time, just tell me. Whaddya say, princess?”  
Now Sienna understood why he had told her to think about it and not let her body decide. It was already becoming excited about the prospect of it all. It was nice when he gave her a small order throughout the day, but for it to turn into something like that, damn that would be amazing. To have her power just taken away by him, just with some words.  
He smiled at her affectionately as he saw the reaction his suggestion was causing. “Sienna, are you thinking or not?”  
She nodded quickly. “Y-yeah. It’s the thinking.”  
He grinned and brought her into a hug. “You’re so cute,” he said against her cheek.  
“Shut up,” she said embarrassed. “Would I have to call you ‘Master’ the whole time then?”  
He shook his head. “Only when I give you an order like before. Or if you feel like it.”  
She nodded meekly.  
He smiled while looking at her fondly. “Sienna, use your words.”  
She let out an embarrassed peep. What added to the embarrassment was the fact that he had used her name. It showed how serious this was. “I-I um…” She looked down shyly. “I…” She covered her face with her hands. “I can't do it!”  
He chuckled. “Fine then.” He moved so that he was on top of her. “Repeat after me,” he said in her ear. “‘I fully accept our master / slave relationship becoming a full-time thing. If there’s anything I am not comfortable with or if I can’t follow orders for some time, I’ll let my master know by asking politely.’”  
_Fuck,_ she thought as her body was becoming weaker. She took in a deep breath. She looked away, pursing her lips as she built up the courage within her to speak. “I f-fully accept our m-master / … slave relationship b-becoming a full-time thing. If … if there’s anything I am not … comfortable with or I if can’t … can’t follow orders for some time, I’ll-I’ll um … let my master know by asking politely,” she said in a higher than usual voice. Finally, she looked up at him and could see him grinning down at her with a hungry twinkle in his eyes. _Oh, fuck. Dammit._ With each passing second her body was becoming more and more excited.  
He chuckled. “Good girl. You said it perfectly.” He said against her neck in a rough voice, “So how ’bout I give you a reward?”


	52. End of the road

After the agreement, the couple had come to the decision to change Sienna’s necklace. The pendant was still a part of it, but it was changed to look more like a collar. It hung on a thin black rope chain closely around the neck, with the pendant coming just beneath the neck.  
Sienna was pacing outside Sting’s office while hugging herself with a pained expression on her face. She had spoken to him about this earlier, but she had never told him when. When she would leave the guild. She still didn’t want to. It was her home, her family. She had grown to love everyone in Sabertooth and in the end she couldn’t have wished for a better guild to spend her time.  
But the thing was, she didn’t go on jobs, she didn’t do anything truly productive as a member of the guild. Sure, people like that existed, however she didn’t want to be one of those people. She wanted to be a proper part of society. Do something else which she found more relaxing.  
She gently knocked on the door and slowly opened it. Sting was clearly busy with work, though he still had no problem stopping. He looked up at her with that usual loving smile he always had.  
However, when he saw the serious look in her eyes, his face turned serious as well. “Sienna?”  
“I…I…” She knew what she wanted to say but couldn’t verbalise it. And she didn’t know why. He supported her in leaving the guild, but a part of her hated having to do it.  
Sting got up from his desk and walked over to her. He took her hands and looked in her eyes. “Sienna, love, what’s wrong?”  
She nuzzled slightly against his chest. “I love you.”  
He brought her into a hug. “I love you too, princess. Do you want to stay here?”  
She shook her head. “You’re working. It’s … it’s just something small.” She caught her breath. “Not really, but it shouldn’t take long.”  
“Do you want me to guess?”  
She let out a broken chuckle. “I’m sure you could.” She sadly shook her head. “But I’d rather tell you.” She removed her head from his chest and looked up at him. “I-I think it’s time…” – she paused, not wanting to say the words – “…for me to leave Sabertooth.”  
His hug remained strong. His face was in her hair. “If you’re sure, love.”  
“Yeah. I shouldn’t delay it any longer, right?”  
He gave her a reassuring smile. “You know, love, I don’t care what you do, as long as you’re happy and safe.”  
She let out a soft chuckle. “Of course.” She looked at the green guild mark on her left shoulder. “Should I remove it?”  
“If you can. I’ll help you if you can’t reach some parts.”  
She giggled. “Thank you, Master.” She was silent for a bit. She covered her mouth to hide the embarrassed smile.  
The moment he saw it, he smirked. “What’s wrong, princess?”  
“It comes out so easily.”  
He tipped her chin upwards. “Doesn’t mean there’s anything to be embarrassed about.” He said close to her ear, “Just know that I am your master until the day I die.”  
A blush formed on her cheeks. “I know.” She stroked the back of his head. “And it’s amazing.”  
He leant down and kissed her tenderly. “Do you want me to help you or not?”  
Sienna smiled at him lovingly. “Feel like it’d be pretty bad if I denied my master’s offer of help. So yeah, sure.”  
He chuckled and took her hand to lead her back towards their shared room. “If I knew you would be like this about stuff like that, I would’ve suggested it earlier.”  
She looked at him askance. “No. And remember, I still get a say in everything. But small things like this are nice.”  
Sting kissed her forehead. “I know, princess, I know. And it’d be wrong to take all your freedom away.”  
Her gaze turned adoring. “You think?”  
“Yeah. You’re so amazing and other people deserve to see that.” He held up the pendant the collar. “Along with the fact that you’re mine.”  
She chuckled and shook her head. “Of course.”  
“Sting,” Sienna said after a while.  
“Yeah.”  
“Thank you.”  
He grinned. “My pleasure, princess.”


	53. A new fear

After having calmed down enough to go on with daily life, Sienna decided to open a flower shop near the Sabertooth guild hall. It had been an easy decision really. It had flowers, which she loved, and it was mundane, which she needed. The first days had been difficult for her, getting used to welcoming so many people in one day. But now it was her new normal.  
The first customer of the day arrived. “Welcome,” she said with a broad smile. “Can I help you in any way, Sir?”  
The man smiled at her in return and shook his head. “No thank you, Miss. I’m just here to do some browsing.”  
She gave him a curt nod. “Of course, Sir. If there’s anything you need help with, don’t hesitate to ask.”  
“Thank you,” he said before he continued walking towards the flowers.  
As time passed on, more and more customers were coming in. Sienna was paying the latest customer back when she suddenly heard a small child moan in pain.  
She looked towards it. The change dropped out of her hands. Her eyes were glued to the small flow of blood coming out of the child’s finger. Her whole body tensed up for a second and her eyes widened in fear. Her brain wasn’t giving her anything, it had gone on total shut down. “Blood,” she said, barely louder than a whisper. “So much blood. Blood everywhere. Dying, death. He almost...” She sank to the ground. “So much, so much. There was so much. Everywhere. All so red. All so dark.” Tears had started forming in her eyes while she was shaking back and forth.  
One of the customer’s was now sitting in front of her, trying to think of some way to calm her down. He looked towards the others. “Does anyone know if they’re someone we can contact?”  
“I think she’s the Guild Master’s girlfriend,” one of them said.  
He nodded. “Go get him.”  
He looked at the young woman in front of him. Her muscles had clearly tensed up, though somehow she was still vigorously shaking. He wanted to ask her what had caused her to be like this, but he knew it would be wrong. She had clearly been heavily affected by this experience full of blood and death.  
Soon enough the door swung open and the Guild Master of Sabertooth stood there with a worried look in his eyes. He wasted no time in getting over to his girlfriend’s side and held her head in his hands. “Sienna,” he said softly.  
She unfroze slightly and looked up at him. “Alive,” she said.  
He nodded. “Yeah. I’m alive.” He kissed her forehead. “So, it’s fine, love,” he said as he held his forehead against hers.  
She had her arms around him before he could react. “Forever. You’re not dying. You’re not allowed to.”  
He stroked her head. “I won’t. I can’t exactly protect you from over there, can I?”  
She let out a soft laugh. “You can’t.” She nuzzled up against him. “Thank you.”  
He looked down at her and saw that she had fallen asleep against him. He picked her up, making sure not to disturb her in any way.  
“Mister,” a young girl said behind him.  
He turned around and saw a young girl with a bandaged-up finger looking at him sadly.  
“I’m sorry.”  
He shook his head. “It’s not your fault. You couldn’t have known.” He added in a small voice, “No one could have.”  
She looked up at him confused. “But it still feels wrong.”  
He smiled kindly at her and knelt down. “You shouldn’t. Sienna can’t say it at the moment because now she’s a sleeping beauty, but I know she wouldn’t blame you. It was just an accident, nothing more.”  
She nodded. “Thank you, Mister.”  
He smiled and got up again. “Nothing.” He looked at the other customers. “The shop's closed for the rest of the day. If you need change or anything, my guild mates will handle it.”  
They nodded in return.


	54. Test of strength

Since Sienna was now more used to going outside, Sting came up with the idea of visiting the Fairy Tail guild again. He excitedly suggested that he could even fight against Natsu, see how much stronger the Fire Dragon Slayer had gotten. She smiled at him lovingly in return and agreed to it.  
She put up a sign saying that her shop was closed for the day and went with him.  
While they were walking together, Sienna looked at his excited expression and smiled again. “It’s nice seeing you that eager for a fight, honey.”  
He grinned at her. “You think?”  
She nodded. “Yeah. But I hope you’ve come up with a strategy to defeat him. He has become much stronger since last time you fought him after all.”  
“’Course I have.”  
“Which is?”  
A teasing light danced in his eyes. “Not gonna tell you.”  
She shook her head and scoffed. “’Course not. Either way, seeing you fight like that is gonna be fun. I’ll be supporting you loudly from the side.” She chewed the inside of her lip. “Maybe not loudly. But you, know, yeah, I hope you win, Sting.”  
Seeing how cute she was being at the moment resulted in him blushing. He moved a small piece of hair from her cheek and kissed it. “Thank you.”  
Her face started reddening considerably. She looked away quickly.  
He chuckled. “Red really does suit you, princess.”  
She looked at him annoyed. “Shut up. Let’s just go.” She grabbed his hand and fast walked towards the guild. First, he had been surprised by the action, then he had just accepted it and followed beside her. Because seeing her being energetic about anything really was nice in his eyes.  
Eventually they made it to the Fairy Tail guild hall. Sting announced their arrival loudly and said he wanted to challenge Natsu to another fight. Natsu naturally was all for one and agreed to it. They found a spot near the guild hall where they could use their Dragon Slayer Magic without causing too much damage.  
Sienna sat on a nearby fallen trunk and looked at Sting fondly. She rubbed the trunk in the process. “I’m sorry that you fell over. I wish I had been there sooner, so I could’ve helped you,” she said to the trunk in a soft voice.  
“Oh, c’mon,” the voice of Lucy said behind her. “Is he really going to fight now?”  
Sienna chuckled. “I’m sorry. Sting really wanted to.”  
Lucy smiled down at her. “I guess we’re just stuck with guys who love fighting.”  
“Yeah.” She distractedly made some colourful flowers appear in front of her. “Though I also kinda love fighting, maybe not as much as him, but I always thought a good battle was fun.”  
“Guess it’s something that helped with the relationship.” As she said the words, her eyes were glued on the flowers that had just appeared. She went to sit beside the Nature Mage.  
Sienna shook her head. “Not really. We love seeing each other fight and yeah, I guess the fact that he loves fighting is one of the things I love about him.” She looked at Sting lovingly. “But it’s just an extra thing, you know. ’Cause I'd love him with or without that eagerness to fight. There are just so many things that make him a great guy and the man I love.”  
Lucy stared at her in wonder. “When I first saw you two together, even the second time, I thought the way that you showed your love was a bit over the top. I didn’t realise how true your feelings were for each other. I’m sorry.”  
Sienna chuckled and rubbed her neck nervously. “It’s alright. I understand. We do sometimes go a little overboard in it.” She narrowed her eyes slightly in disbelief. “Mainly him and I don’t mind so I just go along with it. Though it’s kinda lessoned now since ... you know, then.”  
“Yeah.”  
She held onto the top of the white crystalline pendant attached to her collar. “So now I’ve got this, as a reminder to others that I’m still his girlfriend.”  
“Okay,” Lucy said unsurely.  
“Hey there,” a male voice that Sienna didn’t immediately recognise said behind her.  
She looked in the direction the voice had come from and saw someone she had seen before but couldn’t put a name on. “Hi...”  
“Oh, I’m Droy.”  
“Oh yeah, Droy. I don’t think we’ve ever met before, have we?”  
He shook his head. “No. But I heard you have the same kind of magic like mine, so I was wondering whether we could test ours against each other.”  
She looked unsurely towards the unfolding battle. She thought for a bit, then nodded. “Yeah. Sure. Where you wanna go?”  
“A bit further from here.”  
She got up and nodded with a smile. “Sure.”  
He almost fell over seeing how beautiful he thought she was. The only thing that helped keep his balance was the sight of her boyfriend behind her, fighting it out with one of the strongest in the guild.  
“You okay?”  
“Yeah. Let’s go.”  
She nodded. Before she left, she turned to Lucy. “Tell him when he’s finished, okay.” She smiled at him. “I really hope he wins.”  
“Sure. Will do,” Lucy said with a reassuring smile.

They found their way to an open field. Something that Droy had noticed was that on her way over, Sienna’s happiness seemed to have decreased slightly. She still smiled, but the light in her eyes wasn’t as bright.  
“So, can you show me how your magic works?” he asked.  
“Sure.” She held out her hand and a vine started rising from the ground. “It’s a hereditary thing.”  
“Wow. That’s amazing,” he said in wonder. He held out some seeds. “Mine’s much simpler.” He threw out a seed and a big fist appeared made out of multiple vines.  
“Maybe, but that’s still amazing,” she said with an admiring smile. “And at least you can use your magic wherever. I’m pretty much useless at sea apart from hand-to-hand combat and creating some things, but it’s not as effective.”  
“I guess.”  
“So, you wanna fight?”  
Now that she was asking him, he wasn’t so sure anymore. He had never actually seen her fight but presumed considering who she was dating and in which guild she was that she was strong. He could try at least. Maybe she would go easy on him.  
He nodded.  
She got in her battle stance. “Ok. Ready. Come at me with everything you’ve got.”  
Droy nodded and did so. He attacked with various spells. Some landed, some missed. An excited smile had appeared on her face. She had almost forgotten how great it actually felt to be in a fight like this. She wondered how she would take this opponent down as she was running towards him. Then she came up with an idea. Slowly but surely she concentrated her magic on the ground beneath him. Before he knew it, multiple vines sprouted from the ground and started twisting themselves around his legs. He fell over, having lost his balance.  
“That was amazing!” Sting said in wonder emerging from where he had battled.  
She smiled shyly and put a bit of hair behind her ear. “Thank you.” She loosened her vines around Droy's legs and walked over to Sting. “How did you fight go?”  
“Still lost.” He didn’t seem upset about it at all.  
“What a shame. It would have been nice having you win.”  
He grinned. “Doesn’t matter. You won yours.”  
She chuckled. “Yeah, guess so. I won for the both of us. Since we’re such a great team.”  
He kissed her and softly rubbed her cheeks. “That we are, babykins.”  
She giggled. “Oh, for god’s sake. There are people here, Sting.”  
“So?”  
“I guess nothing. ’Cause there’s no way we can be worse than we are at the guild hall.”  
“Probably no.”  
Sienna looked over at Lucy to see what she had to say about it.  
She in turn nodded. “Yeah, I agree. The two of you were being a bit too weird for my liking back then. This is sweeter.”  
“That’s nice. I like it when other people see how much I love my princess.”  
She looked at him lovingly. “Quiet you. We should get going. The _Master_ of Sabertooth can’t be gone for long after all.”  
He kissed her cheek. “True, princess. True.”


	55. “You’ve got me”

It was late in the day years later; Sienna had already gone to bed and Sting was now doing nothing but pacing. He had no reason to be nervous. That was what the logical side of him said, but he still was. It wasn’t like he was going to do it first thing in the morning, he had to surprise her in some way. He knew how and knew that he was going to be able to do it. But in the end, he needed her out of the house to be able to do it.  
He sighed. There was no point in thinking more about it now. So, he went up to the room and snuck in next to Sienna. Not a minute later, she was curled up against him with a peaceful smile on her face. He was lucky that her eyes weren’t open, because now a blush was prominent on his cheeks. He kissed her forehead. “Goodnight, princess.” With that he fell asleep.  
The next day he got up early and rushed as fast as he could to Rogue’s house. He banged on the door till his sleepy friend opened it.  
“Sting, why are you here so early? What’s wrong?” he asked, not especially wanting to see his energetic friend first thing in the morning.  
“I want you to keep an eye on Sienna today.”  
That statement was all it took to fully wake up Rogue. “What? Why? Is she in danger?”  
“No. Nobody’d be stupid enough to do that.” He hoped that was the truth. “I just need her to stay out of the house for the rest of the day. I know she spends the day at her flower shop, but there could always be reasons. And you need to stop her from going and tell her you’ll go instead.”  
“Sting, what are you planning?” Though he was awake, the way Sting was talking was making him tired again.  
“It’s a surprise.” He tried to hide it; however, the grin that appeared on his face was nothing short of jubilant.  
Rogue shook his head. “Ok. I will do it.”  
“Thanks, Rogue. You’re the best,” he said and went back home.  
“I can’t believe that guy.”  
Sting made it home to find Sienna making breakfast for the two of them. She looked up at him with an unbelieving smile. “So, mind telling me where you ran off to?”  
“I had some stuff to do.”  
She squinted. “Stuff? What kind of stuff?”  
“Nothing.”  
She rubbed her head. “Sting, you are a terrible liar. Definitely since I can see that you’re grinning like crazy.”  
“Ok. Fine. It’s a surprise.”  
She huffed a laugh. “A surprise? Why?”  
He approached her and gave her a sideways hug and kissed her on the forehead. “Do I really need more reason to want to surprise the woman I love?”  
“I guess not,” she said in a small voice. “Though now I know that you’ve got something planned for me.”  
“But you don’t know what.”  
“I’m sure I can figure it out.”  
He laughed. “With how smart you are, probably. But let’s just leave it at this, okay, babykins?”  
She smiled at him. “Yes, Master.”  
He gave her a peck on the lips. “Good girl.”  
She let out an embarrassed peep. Her body was already reaction to the words. She opened and closed her mouth unsurely. “Sting,” she said, becoming more flustered by the second. “After breakfast, princess.” He smiled broadly at her. “Gotta enjoy the main meal before we get to dessert, right?”  
She nodded shyly before she continued setting the table.  
Sting on the other hand was looking at her lovingly – transfixed.  
Once breakfast was served, the couple sat down and dug in. After a while, Sienna could feel his unrelenting gaze on her. She looked up at him and bit the inside of her lip while tensing her body. In her book he was the definition of a happy ever after. “Sting,” she said in a small voice.  
His eyes drifted to hers. “Yeah?”  
“I love you so much.”  
He blinked. They told each other those first three words plenty of times, but this sentence seemed to carry more weight to it than the previous ones. Was it because of the added words, or something else? The voice was more sincere though it still had a pitch to it, so that could be it. But now the second question arose: Why was she saying it at a time like this? “I love you so much too,” he said shyly. Usually he was the one in charge of this kind of stuff, so it felt weird for the roles to be swapped like this. Good, but still weird.  
Her smile turned loving. “You are so cute,” she said in a soft voice. “And mine.”  
He could not let her win this. “Like you’re one to talk. Last time I’ve checked, you’ve blushed way more in our relationship.” He grinned and cocked his head. “Or do I have to remind you how you can get when your master tells you do something?”  
Her blush deepened. She shook her head. “No, I mean, blushing has nothing to do with being cute. You in general are just the cutest, everything you do. Though I have to say, when you smile or are excited about something, that is when your cuteness really shines.” He smiled at her affectionately. “You’ve got me. I’ll give you this one, princess.”  
Sienna excitedly clapped her hands. “Thank you, Master.”  
“Now eat up.” He took her chin between his forefinger and thumb. “I want to take my time today. You deserve everything in the world and I’m gonna show that to you, princess.”  
“Baby,” came out in a small, high pitched voice like the pet name had been pushed out of her.  
He stroked her cheek with his thumb. “Yes, princess?”  
The gaze that he was giving her was becoming too much to handle, so she looked away. “Yeah. Sh-should finish breakfast.”  
He chuckled and let go of her chin. “Yeah.” He turned his attention back to his breakfast. “It’s really good.”  
“Thank you.”  
“I’d expect nothing less from my slave.”  
She gave him an incredulous smile. “It’s what my master deserves after all.” She leant over and kissed his cheek.  
Once the couple were done with breakfast, Sting didn’t waste any time and swung Sienna over his shoulder.  
“You know, you’re lucky that I didn’t eat all that much otherwise I would’ve barfed all over you,” she said dryly.  
“You’d need to move more than that,” he said as he started walking to their room.  
“Speaking from experience I see.”  
A small irritated smile formed on his lips. He laid her down on the bed and said in her ear, “For that comment, you’re gonna be stuck here for longer.”  
Even though she knew she shouldn’t, she giggled. “What? No. I have to get to work.”  
He stroked her cheek as his face neared hers while he was towering above her. “You do? You sayin’ work has more power over you than me?”  
She shook her head. “N-no. You know, just … it’s good to work.” “You’ll have plenty of time for that later, princess,” he said before he enjoyed himself to the fullest.

Eventually, Sting let Sienna go. A small smile because of the earlier events still resided on her lips. Now she was making her way to work. Though something strange really was going on. She was being followed, by none other than Rogue. _What’s going on? Is Sting worried that something might happen today or something?_ She stopped and turned around. “Rogue, come out.”  
He stepped forward and revealed himself, along with Frosh next to him.  
“What’s the meaning of this?”  
“I’m just here to keep an eye on you.”  
“Why?” she asked suspiciously.  
“I was given no reason.”  
“What? What’s that idiot thinking? I can take care of myself and he knows that. So why send you, one of Sabertooth’s best Mages, over to keep an eye on me?”  
“It’s not really that.”  
“What is it then?”  
“I can’t tell.”  
She rolled her eyes. “Let me guess. Something to do with that big surprise of later.” She continued walking. “Don’t get why he sometimes wants to do that. When he does, it’s the sweetest thing in the world, but I don’t need it. Everything he does for me is already enough. I just want a future with him, nothing more.”  
Rogue was at a loss for words as he watched her walk onwards. _I wonder whether that has anything to do with what he’s planning today._

At the end of the day Sienna made it back to the house, she unlocked the door and the first sound she heard was Lector shouting, “She’s here.” Then the second sound came: a loud crash from the kitchen.  
She stopped for a second, started by the sound, but composed herself just as quickly and went towards the kitchen. “Sting, are you...?” The moment she saw him however, any part of her brain responsible for making words stopped working.  
There she saw him, the man she loved, surrounded by an explosion of cake and flour, on one knee, holding a box with a ring inside. She took a step back, not believing her eyes.  
He looked at her fondly and said the words the he had wanted to say for the longest time, “Will you marry me?”  
She nodded vigorously, giggled, and said, “Yes,” with the broadest smile imaginable.  
He got up and put the ring on her finger.  
“I see you had a field day in my kitchen.” She put her arms around his neck.  
“Guess you could say I was a bit nervous,” he said with a grin. Now his arms were on her waist.  
She rubbed the back of his neck. “My precious Sting, you never had any reason to be nervous.” Then she took him into a deep kiss. The moment their lips parted, she said, “Lector, out.”  
The Exceed didn’t need being told twice as he flew as fast as he could out of the kitchen with a big smile. _I’m proud of you, Sting._


	56. “People change”

The time that followed was nothing but busy for the couple in question. Sienna, having the luck of pretty much now being a flower expert, had an idea of which flowers to choose for her wedding. However, the question still arose of the wedding dress. Obviously, she would go shopping with the other women at some point. She just had to pick a time.  
As she was cleaning up the shop, with a grin stretching from ear to ear, she suddenly heard, “You seem extremely happy. That’s good. What happened?”  
She turned around shocked and blinked at the current king of the Nature Spirits. “Jack, what are you doing here? Don’t you have a kingdom to run?”  
He nodded. “They’re doing much better now, so I can afford to leave for short whiles. I was wondering how you were holding up. I heard there was a big war. I’m sorry we couldn’t help.”  
She looked away and shook her head. “You just became king; it would have been bad to ask that of you.”  
“Though I still would have happily helped.”  
“And what about your people?”  
Jack looked down. “I presume not so much, no.” He sighed. “Though I guess for me not much time has passed since then compared to you. You look older.”  
“I am. I’m twenty-five now. Four years have passed.”  
“Four years. It’s amazing how much humans can change in such a short amount of time.”  
She chuckled. “You should see the others. I’m still half Nature Spirit, remember?”  
“Of course. I just wonder when it will become obvious.”  
She looked straight at him. “Oh yeah. Speaking of which, do you know how old Nature Spirits become about? Or are you actually immortal?”  
“We can be killed, but apart from that we don’t have an age at which we die. We do become older, but the body stops aging at a certain point.”  
She could actually feel her heart breaking. “Will you then look like your dad at some point in age?” she asked to distract herself.  
“I don’t know. Why do you ask?”  
“No reason.”  
“Sienna?”  
She shook her head. “It’s not important.” She held up her left hand. “You were wondering why I was happier, right? I’m engaged.”  
Jack smiled and nodded. His heart broke slightly, but he ignored it. “Congratulations. If you need extra flowers or anything, I can send some people over.”  
She shook her head. “No, thanks. It’s fine. It’s better to buy those kinds of things here.”  
He nodded and started leaving the shop.  
“You wanna come?”  
“It would be inappropriate considering our past, what I did to you ... almost did to you.”  
She walked over to him. “But that’s no longer you, is it?” She stopped in front of him. “So, unless you have kingly duties to attend to, I don’t see why you can’t come.”  
“Will Sting be alright with it?”  
She frowned in thought. “I’ll talk to him. You can come along if you want.”  
The king almost ran away at the thought of seeing the White Dragon Slayer again. “Are you sure? Won’t he want to hurt me or something?”  
“No. I’m pretty sure he’s okay with you now. He even suggested asking you for help.”  
Jack nodded nervously. “Okay.”  
“Just gotta close up. You wait outside, okay?”  
“Yeah. Sure.”  
She locked the doors and stepped out beside him. “Also, what about your whole keeping your identity a secret from the world?”  
“I abolished that law. Your biological parents clearly had feelings for each other, and your father clearly cared about you, so I thought that if they could form feelings like that, others could as well.”  
“Yeah.”  
“Why don’t you speak to him?”  
She looked at him. “I have nothing to say to him.”  
“He regrets his decision deeply. Just give him a chance.”  
She sighed. “Considering I’m doing that to you, it’d be rude to not give him one.” She rubbed her head. “But it’s totally lame. ’Cause how in the hell am I even s’posed to start a relationship with him? You and I had nothing connecting us, apart from this weird ass one sided bond. But my biological father knew about me and made this deal about me.” She groaned. “I guess neither of us was meant to have normal parents. At least he had a loving father.”  
He caught himself staring at her before it became creepy. “You don’t have to see him as your father, just someone you want to get to know. Make it as simple as possible.”  
She sighed. “Yeah. Thanks, Jack.” She started rummaging through her handbag and took out a key. “We’re almost there. Sometimes he’s home before me, others after me depending on how busy he is. So, you ready?”  
Jack nodded, still unsure of what to do when he saw the man of the house. He inspected the house. It was a small, two story house. “Cosy.”  
She smiled. “Yeah.” She unlocked the door. “Sting, I’m home,” she said loudly.  
“Welcome home, princess,” he said before he pulled her into a kiss. When he released her from it however, he noticed the Nature Spirit standing behind her. Sting pulled her closer and looked at him dangerously. He closed his eyes, calming himself. “What do you want?” he asked once he was calm enough.  
“Sting, don’t be rude to our guest,” she said looking up at him.  
One of his hands was now protectively holding her whole back. “Our guest? What?”  
“Inside. Then I’ll explain.”  
He looked at him with distrust and led his fiancée inside. Jack unsurely followed behind them. They sat at the dining table. The couple next to each other and Jack opposite Sting. The silence that followed was so tense it could be cut with a knife.  
“So,” Sting said eventually.  
Sienna sighed. “This is ridiculous. We’re at peace with the Nature Spirits now.”  
“Doesn’t mean I have to be okay with him.”  
“And what will make you okay with him?”  
“Proof that he’s changed.”  
“Wanna go to the forest?”  
“Huh?”  
“If they’re happier there, living better lives. That’ll prove that he’s being a good king, right?”  
He thought for a bit. “Yeah. Fine. Let’s go. I’ll leave a letter at the guild hall for if we’re not back by tomorrow.”  
“Good. It’ll also give me a chance to meet up with my biological father.”  
The main feeling crossing Sting was shock, along with the urge to tell her not to. But he needed to know the reason first. “Why?”  
“’Cause I’m curious as to know what he’s really like.”  
“Apart from a bastard who married you off the moment you were born?”  
“People change, Sting. You of all people must know that.”  
He groaned. “Fine. Let’s go meet him as well.”


	57. Field of flowers

Once the group was at the forest, Sienna turned to Sting. “You ready?”  
“Yeah.” He still looked like he was prepared to kick someone’s butt, however he was clearly holding it in. He had to stay calm for the woman beside him.  
“Good.”  
They passed through the barrier and Sienna let out a giggle. “I’m in love,” she said in wonder.  
Sting looked at her surprised, never before had she uttered those words concerning anything but him, even food that she said to love. Though then again, it wasn’t entirely un-understandable. The forest seemed far more alive now. “It’s really beautiful,” he admitted.  
“I’m glad you like it,” Jack said. “Would you like to be shown around?”  
“Yeah.”  
Jack showed them the various new places that the forest had gotten. He noticed someone walking around by himself. “Oh, there you are, George.”  
The spirit that had just been addressed turned towards him and bowed. “Your Majesty.” Then he noticed who the king was with and looked at Sienna with his mouth agape. “Sienna,” he said barely louder than a whisper.  
“So, your name’s George.”  
He nodded.  
“That’s good to know. At least there’s something more I know more about you.” She looked at the man standing beside her. “Sting.”  
“Wanna hang with him alone?”  
“It’ll be easier like that.”  
“Yeah. Got it.”  
She nodded and walked towards the pair of Nature Spirits. “Oh yeah. And, Your Majesty, if anything happens to him, it’s on your head. Maybe even literally depending on what it is.” She smiled and waved at them as she followed her biological father further away.  
“Has she always been so protective?”  
“More like that her dangerous side turned into a protective side. We should also talk a bit.”  
“Yeah.”

“It’s nice seeing you again,” George said unsurely. “I wish I could’ve talked to you more on that day.”  
“What would you have said then?”  
“That I’m sorry it turned out that way. I just didn’t want you to die and didn’t know how else to handle it.”  
“Why did you even go with that woman?”  
He sat down on a patch of grass and indicated to her to sit next to him. “She was like no one I had ever met before and I couldn’t help but be drawn to her. I did love her, as impossible as it may seem.”  
“Yeah, I’m sure you did. It’d totally suck if I was made from something that wasn’t love. Though then again, I wasn’t raised by love, so what difference did it really make?”  
“I’m sorry. I wish I could’ve done something.”  
She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, apologise, apologise. You know what’s important at a moment like this, to show that you are capable of being better than your previous self.”  
He looked down in shame. “Yes. I understand. Of course. It’s really good that you found him.”  
She sighed and looked up at the sky. “Those two said as much. There a special reason for that?”  
“Apart from the fact that he makes you happy, no, not really.”  
“Kay.” She curled her legs up to herself and reached out her right hand. A white flower appeared there. “He ate one of these the first day we met. I couldn’t believe my eyes ’cause I thought I was the only one with weird magic, but he proved me wrong.” She picked the flower up. “From then on, I just wanted to spend the rest of my life with him, not romantically of course, just platonically like that. Then feelings came and yeah,” tears started forming in her eyes, “he makes me happy. So happy. I love him so much. He’s such an idiot in so many ways, but he’s the light of my life.” She put her face in her knees. “And I get to marry him.”  
Only then did George notice the red ring on her ring-finger. He didn’t know what to say. What even was there to say apart from, “Congratulations.”  
She looked at him and smiled slightly. “Thank you.”  
Somehow the image that he was getting from her seemed truly ethereal. “You’re an angel,” he said in a small voice.  
“Huh?”  
He shook his head. “Is there anything else you want to know?”  
She shook her head. “I was just curious as to what you were like. I’ve seen enough. Thank you.” She stood up and brushed herself off.  
“Sienna, are you alright?” the voice of Sting suddenly said behind her.  
She sighed and looked at him. “Yeah, Sting, I am. So would you please stop worrying about me?”  
“Yeah, sure. It’s just.” He indicated his head to the ground. “You kinda sprouted a whole field.”  
She looked down confused. The moment she saw all of the white flowers, her eyes widened. “I did that? How? I mean... What?”  
“Maybe it was caused by emotional stimulation like last time,” Jack said. “Where you thinking of something which could have caused this?”  
“Um...” She looked unsurely at Sting. “Uh ... well yeah.” Her cheeks started reddening. “I was kinda talking ’bout Sting.”  
Sting neared her and started stroking her cheek. “Thought so, but what’d you say?” His own cheeks had gotten a red tinge.  
“Stuff,” she said embarrassed. “Like you know, that you ate one of those when we first met, and it was nice seeing someone else with weird magic. And from then on, I wanted to spend the rest of life with you, which yeah you know ... first platonically and then romantically.” She buried her face in his chest. “’Cause you make me happy and I love you so much and get to marry you. And I already feel like the happiest woman in the world.”  
Sting was left speechless at the confession of his fiancée. His blush had definitely grown deeper. He lowered his head. “I love you more than anything, babykins,” he said before he kissed her.  
When they finally parted, they noticed that they were alone. “Sting,” she said in a small voice. Her arms were still around him.  
“Yeah.”  
“I don’t know why, but I feel like I want to get married here.”  
“Sounds good to me. That’s one less thing to worry about then.”  
She looked up at him. “You sure?”  
“Yeah. I’ve realised that Jack is now a good spirit and king, as weird as it is.”  
She grinned up at him. “That’s great.” She shouted, “Jack!’  
He appeared again. “Sorry, for disappearing like that. The two of you seemed in need of a moment of your own.”  
“Well, in that case you could’ve left us alone for a bit longer,” Sting said with a cheeky grin.  
She lifted up her finger and shushed him. “Shush. We can’t disrespect this place like that.”  
“Yeah.” He chuckled. “You’d probably kill me if I tried.”  
“Nice to know that you know me so well, Sting.”  
"‘Sidering I’m planning on marrying you, I sure hope I do.”  
Jack almost left before Sienna cried out to him to stop. It seemed like a wire had stopped him in his tracks.  
“Is it alright if Sting and I get married here?”  
He looked at her and nodded. “Yeah. It should be fine. Who’s all coming?”  
“Just the guild and a few friends,” Sting said.  
“Yeah. Apart from the fact that the people who aren’t in our guild haven’t replied yet, so we don’t know.”  
“Either way, this place should be big enough for it, right?”  
Jack nodded. “Yes. Perhaps when you have more details, you can contact me. I also have to make sure with my people.”  
“True. Thank you.”  
“Yes. Thank you.”

While they were walking back, Sienna asked in a small voice, “Are you afraid of losing me?”  
Even the mention of it made his blood run cold. “Of course. Why do you ask?”  
“’Cause every time I get reminded that I’m not entirely human, I freak out. I asked Jack about it earlier and apparently Nature Spirits are immortal apart from the fact that they can be killed. Of course I’m not a total one and still have a lifespan, it’s probably just so much longer than yours. And I’m scared for that day. What if I don’t end up aging the same way you do, so you’ll feel old one day while I don’t feel old at all?”  
Her head was against his chest within seconds. Both his hands were in her hair, rubbing her head in comfort. “Oh, love, you should’ve told you were worrying ’bout this earlier.” He kissed her crown. “I’ve told you plenty of times in the past that I don’t intend on dying on you. And young can be whatever we want it to be. Even when I’m grey, I’ll consider myself young if your hair’s still perfectly green. And no kind of disease will win against me when it comes to that.”  
“Hopefully.”  
“You know, I just thought of something strange,” he said playfully.  
“What?”  
“Your hair’s green like leaves and stuff, so does that mean that it’ll eventually turn brown like they do as well.”  
She shoved him and looked at him annoyed. “’Course not. I’m still partially human.”  
He grinned at her. “Exactly, partially. So, it’s entirely possible that your hair won’t follow the human norm.”  
She looked at him with a fond smile. “Sting, you’re a real idiot.”  
“I love you too, babykins.”  
She shook her head with a smile. “Can we stay at a nearby inn tonight? Don’t feel like walking at a time like this.”  
“Sure.”


	58. Doubts

It was a quiet day at the shop and Sienna was flipping through a dress booklet distractedly. She had made plans to go dress hunting with the others in a few days, but she still wanted to prepare herself, give her some kind of idea. It honestly amazed her how many different kinds of wedding dresses there were. And they were all so pretty. Thought of course some more than others.  
The bell to her shop rang, resulting in her putting the booklet away quickly and greeting the customer with a smile. The customer greeted her in return and continued, stating that he didn’t need any help. After looking around for a bit, he eventually picked a bunch of roses.  
As she was putting it in a bag, she asked, “For someone special?”  
“Hopefully,” he said shyly.  
She smiled and gave him everything. “Good luck. Flowers are capable of wonderful things.”  
He nodded. “Thank you.”  
Once he was out, she sighed. “Wonderful things, huh?” She held up the booklet. “We haven’t even picked out the right flowers.” She looked towards her shop. “White or red. White roses are beautiful, but I dunno.” She groaned. “Getting married is really difficult, ey, Sting?”  
“Lady Sienna, are you alright?” Yukino asked, entering the shop.  
Sienna straightened up. “Yukino, what are you doing here?” she asked surprised. “Not that I don’t appreciate you being here, but um...”  
Yukino smiled kindly at her. “It’s all right. I was just coming back from a job and noticed you looking kind of pained, so I thought I should check up on you.”  
She grimaced. “It’s nothing big. Just realising how much work planning a wedding really is.”  
“Surely Master Sting is also helping.”  
She smiled. “Yeah, he is. But all in all, it’s difficult deciding some things. I’m not used to that either, which makes it even more of a pain.”  
“Just believe that everything will work out fine. You are already doing great and I know we will find a fitting dress when we go shopping.”  
Her smile brightened slightly. “Yeah. Thank you, Yukino.”  
“It’s my pleasure. I should get going.”  
She nodded and said her goodbye before turning her attention back to the booklet.

When she made it back home, Sienna called out to her fiancé. No answer, so he wasn’t home yet. She looked at the clock. “I’ll start cooking dinner then. At least we have narrowed down the kinds of food we’re gonna have.”  
She started gathering the ingredients. “Maybe we could do multiple kinds of flowers, make it more interesting. White definitely, but another colour. This is not going well. I’m going to marry you and I’m being so lame in picking out things for our wedding and stuff. I can’t have you take all the work, I can’t. C’mon, decide.” She started sinking to the floor. “I have to be useful; the workload can’t be put on you. Choose. Why is it so difficult to choose?” She curled up in a foetus position and started sobbing.  
An unknown amount of time later she heard the worried voice of her fiancé saying her name. “Sienna. Love, what’s wrong?”  
“Am I doing enough?” she asked in a small, broken voice.  
“Of course. What makes you think that you’re not?”  
“There are so many choices that have to be made and I’m not doing anything to help complete them.”  
“That doesn’t matter. We have time.”  
She shook slightly. “But I couldn’t even do something as simple as choose a flower today. And I’m pretty much a flower expert. How useless am I?”  
All pain that he had felt before now was nowhere near what he was feeling at the moment. “Sienna, don’t say that.” He softly stroked her. “You’re not useless. You’ve made me do more things in my life than anyone else for starters. You’ve made me and others happy with your amazing personality. And you picked a great place for our wedding to be held. You shouldn’t put so much pressure on yourself.”  
“But if you work more, you’ll become tired more easily and it’ll only be a matter of time.”  
“What do you take me for?”  
“An amazing, strong man. But you’re still human, Sting, and even though you told me that I shouldn’t worry about it, I can’t stop. My mind won’t leave me alone. I need constant distractions otherwise those thoughts will come and take me down. Even in my shop, I almost had a breakdown before a customer entered. I want it to stop, so much. You have no idea. Because I am happy, Sting. But I’m also so sad when you’re not around. And I don’t know for how long I can take it anymore.”  
“You should take a break for a few days. Come back to the guild.”  
“What?”  
“You don’t have to work or anything, just stay with me if you want. Don’t have that much paperwork now anyway.”  
“But-but are you sure that’s alright? I mean ... there must be...”  
“Your mental health is the most important thing now, love. So yeah, it’s alright.”  
“Thank you.” She turned around and nuzzled against him. “What should we do for dinner?”  
“I guess eating out’ll be too much.”  
She shook her head. “No. Sounds good. It’ll be something nice. Just wanna wait a bit.”  
He started stroking the hair from her face.  
“Do you like white roses?” she asked in a small voice.  
“Yeah. They’re really nice flowers.”  
“Nice enough for our wedding?”  
“Yeah, I’d say so.”  
“Only those or others as well?”  
“I’d say only those. They’re flowers that look amazing by themselves.”  
She smiled slightly. “True.” She buried her head partially in his leg. “Thank you for everything, Sting. I’m so happy I got to meet you that day and don’t regret it in the slightest.”  
He knelt down and kissed her forehead. “It’s my pleasure, love. You have no idea how much that means to me.”  
She made herself comfortable on his leg. “You know, I’m not really that hungry. Maybe we can go out another day.”  
“Yeah. Wanna stay here then?”  
She nodded. As he continued softly stroking her head, she eventually fell asleep. He didn’t move at all that night, not even when his stomach told him that he should eat. He wasn’t risking waking her up and disturbing that peaceful face of hers.


	59. Reassurance

Sienna woke up the next morning, confused by the position she was in. She looked up and noticed Sting still sitting cross legged, asleep while hunched over. She slowly got up and faced him. She gently stroked his cheek. “Baby, I’m sorry,” she said in a soft voice. “I must have worried you so much yesterday.” She softly kissed him, then got up.  
His hand softly traced hers. “You’re apologising again, love.”  
Her hand closed around his slightly. “I guess it’s something I can’t help.”  
Sting got up and put his hands around her waist and rested his chin on her head. “I guess I’m going to have to figure out a way to stop that mentality.”  
She eyed him out of the corner of her eye. “How?”  
“Dunno yet. But I will find a way.”  
She turned around and kissed him. “Thank you.” She turned around again. “Should get out everything for breakfast.”  
He released her and let her go to work. As much as he wanted to help her at the moment, he knew that him and anything kitchen related could only end in disaster. As he continued watching her silently, he asked, “You thinking ’bout it now?”  
She shook her head. “No. I’m pretty much saying you’re here on repeat in my head. It calms me down.”  
“So that kind of distraction works?”  
“Kinda. It depends on how far the panic is.”  
“And I guess you never know before it happens.”  
She sadly shook her head. “I wish I did. Then at least I’d be prepared. I’m sorry, Sting. I should’ve told you about this earlier. Marriage is supposed to be about being open with your significant other and honesty.”  
“You are being honest now. That’s what’s important. It’s better finding out now than when it could be considered too late.”  
She faced him. “But what am I even supposed to do now? I’ve told you but I can’t very well burden you with becoming better.”  
“There might be facilities.”  
She sighed. “Yeah. Maybe.” She indicated the set table. “Let’s eat.”

The rest of the day she spent in the guild hall. It was weird being in there again as a non-member. She considered putting a request up for that kind of help but thought better of it considering she would then be telling everyone at the guild she needed it. She wasn’t ashamed or anything, she just didn’t want them to worry about her. The surprised looks they gave her when she first entered had been bad enough. She never thought she would feel out of place in her fiancé’s guild after all that time, but she did. The only thing normal was him, by her side, with his arm around her.  
She didn’t do much there. She just sat beside Sting as he finished his paperwork, not speaking a word and just admiring him. He sometimes looked at her and when he looked back a small smile appeared on his lips. This in turn made her happy. She loved that soft smile of his after all.  
At the end of the day, before they went back, they looked around town to see whether there were any places that could help her. But they found nothing.  
So, when they arrived home, Sienna went straight to bed, saying that she wanted to call someone for help. Sting had his suspicions as to who it was and okayed it, saying that he would handle dinner. In other words, order takeout later.

Sienna lay down on her bed and looked towards the headboards. She softly touched it and a small plant started growing out of it. Eventually a circle formed in front of her. She sighed. _This is gonna be hell._ “Jack,” she said.  
The face of the Nature Spirit King appeared inside the circle. “Sienna.” He looked at her concerned. “What’s wrong? Is everything alright with Sting?”  
She shook her head. “Sting’s fine. It’s just...” She trailed off, unsure of what to say.  
“Sienna?”  
“Is mental health a thing with the Nature Spirits?”  
“We consider it important, yeah. Why? What’s wrong?”  
“I need help and there’s no place around here that offers it. So, I was wondering ... maybe you guys have something like that.”  
Jack looked down in shame. “We don’t necessarily have that, but something else. Not many Nature Spirits can do it, but there are a few capable of erasing memories. If you know the exact cause, we can get rid of them.”  
She nervously bit the inside of her lip. “I appreciate it, but don’t think so. I know the core is the war, but I’m also just generally scared of losing him. I was scared the moment it was revealed that I’m half Nature Spirit. So, I don’t know whether it’ll help or not.”  
“That’s why you asked me,” Jack realised sadly.  
“Yeah, that’s why. It’s a stupid fear really. I should be concentrating on my time with him in the present, not the scary future.”  
“It’s not entirely stupid, but you are right. And there are no threats now that will take him away from you.”  
She neared the circle, causing him to back away in surprise. “He still goes on jobs sometimes.”  
“But he always makes it through unharmed I presume.”  
“Yeah. The most dangerous one was the one you sent out.”  
He looked away in shame. “I’m sorry.”  
“No. I’m sorry for bringing it up now. It’s just a comparison, saying that you’re the biggest foe he’s ever faced on a request. No, foe’s not the right word. But yeah, you are strong, Jack.”  
He smiled at her shyly. “Thanks. What do you want to do?”  
Her eyes drooped in sadness. “Dunno yet. I’ll discuss it with Sting.”  
“That would be the smartest, yeah. I hope that either way, you find a way out of this, Sienna.”  
“Thank you, Jack. Goodbye.”  
“Goodbye, Sienna.” The circle turned blank, saving him from the awkward fact that he had almost said he loved her.


	60. The perfect dress

After a serious discussion, it was decided that Sienna wouldn’t have her memories erased. It would be pretty useless after all. She would still fear for Sting’s life and likely still have hemophobia. So instead she rested. She put another notice outside her shop telling her prospective customers that she would be gone for an unknown period of time. Like before, she spent her time in the Sabertooth guild hall. Somehow, it actually calmed her down.  
So, when the day for dress shopping arrived, she was entirely prepared. Excited even. She pretty much jumped around in joy as the two other women calmly walked beside her. She told them about her favourite dresses and the shop they were in.  
Once inside, the dresses were chosen, and Sienna went to try them on.  
“She seems happier today,” Yukino said.  
Minerva nodded. “Yes. She does.”  
“Do you think it’s a show?”  
“No. I don’t think so. She is genuinely happy and excited to marry him, so I’m sure these feelings are real. What we should be worrying about is for how long they will last.”  
Yukino gasped.  
“What are you two talking about?” Sienna asked, emerging from the changing room.  
“Nothing,” Yukino said hurriedly.  
Sienna looked at her suspiciously but shook her head. “Fine. What d’ya think?”  
“It looks good.”  
“Indeed.”  
“But not wedding day worthy,” she surmised. “Got it. I’ll try on the other ones.”  
One by one the dresses were shown. They were all approved of, but none stood out. That was until the latest one. Sienna emerged and the pair smiled in approval at her.  
“That’s it,” Minerva said.  
“I agree,” Yukino said.  
Sienna twirled around in her dress slightly. “You think?” It was a simple yet elegant dress. The straps and bodice were covered in an embroidery of countless flowers. The design continued slightly onto the bottom part, until it entirely disappeared and left to leave the rest of the white gown. It came down to her feet, where there was an assortment of white roses.  
“Yes. It really suits you, Sienna.”  
“Thank you. That’s another thing out of the way.”  
So, she brought the dress.  
Outside, Sienna started giggling. “Sorry,” she said, between giggles. “I’m just excited, you know. I get to marry him. I’m actually marrying him, and this is a step closer to it.”  
“And you’re also a day closer to it,” Minerva said with an approving smile.  
“Yeah. You’re right. It’s going to be amazing.” She grinned. “I’m happy. He makes me happy.” She shook her head. “So, I refuse to be sad any longer.” She knew it wasn’t that simple, but it would be good to have that kind of mindset.


	61. Unwelcome visitor

As time passed everything fell into place. The people who had been invited outside Sabertooth answered with an enthusiastic yes. This gave the couple the opening to tell Jack about the amount of guests. He okayed it and said that he definitely had enough space for that.  
“Who will give you away?” the voice of Sienna’s biological father said beside her.  
She almost attacked him on the spot, stopping just in time when she noticed who it was. “What do you think you’re doing? Sneaking up on me like that.”  
“Sorry. I just wanted to visit you. See how you were doing,” George said apologetically.  
She looked at him annoyed. “I’m doing fine, thanks. And yeah, I dunno. Might ask someone from the guild.”  
“Maybe I could.”  
“Why? Look, I appreciate what you’re trying to do. But in no way are you close enough to me yet to give me away on my own wedding day. You must realise that, right?”  
“Isn’t there anything that I can do?”  
She smiled at him poisonously. “What? You hope to change my mind in one month?”  
George looked at her surprised. “One month?”  
“Yep. It’s the big day in one month. Your invite must have gotten lost.”  
George actually looked like he was ready to cry, confusing Sienna in the process.  
“Why the sad face, George?” The venom had left her voice and had turned soft.  
“I want to make up for it, but I don’t know how.”  
She sighed. “Help me today. I’ll see how things go from then on.”  
He nodded eagerly, ready for the new job ahead of him.

At the end of the day when Sienna was closing up, she looked back at the Nature Spirit. “You did good today. Your customer service could use a bit of work, but all in all good. And it actually took a workload off my shoulders. Maybe I should hire an assistant or something. I should be able to afford one now.”  
“Yeah. That would definitely be beneficial for you.”  
She locked all the doors and nodded absentmindedly. “Do you want to be paid for today’s work?”  
He looked at her surprised. “No. It’s fine. I was just doing it as a favour anyway.”  
“Ok.” She started heading back home and noticed that he was still beside her. “Are you really going to follow me home? I have no need for you to be here anymore.”  
“But we could talk about things.”  
“Like what?” she asked tiredly.  
“How the rest of the wedding plans are going.”  
“Everything’s been sorted. Now we just have to wait till the day itself and make sure all the food’s there on time.”  
George nodded. “The two of you make a great team.”  
Sienna smiled wistfully and held her ring finger in front of her. “Yeah. We do, don’t we? Not like him and Rogue, the great Twin Dragons, but in a different way.” She grinned. “Dammit, I love him.”  
He looked at her shocked. It really would have been nice to see this relationship between his daughter and that Dragon Slayer unfold, in any sense of the way. She had told him a bit about it when she had visited, but he still wanted to know more. What had made them be so protective over each other? “Sienna, can I ask you a question?”  
“Guess.”  
“Why are you so protective over him?”  
She looked at him seriously. “What makes you think that?”  
“Just a feeling.”  
She sighed. “Fear of losing him, plain and simple.”  
“Really? That’s all?”  
“What more reason do you want, George?”  
“I don’t know. I just thought ... it’d be deeper than that.”  
She sighed. “Did I tell you how old I was when I first met him?”  
“No.”  
“Six. Just a child. And we were the only people we had. I don’t know how it had happened at such a young age, but I was already done with them.” She looked up at the sky. “And the fact that I felt safe around plants was also a plus.” She continued in a small voice, “I could even create my own food.” She shook her head. “But that’s beside the point. What I was trying to say is that yeah, for the longest time he’s been the only person I could lean on, trust, whatever you wanna call it. And I don’t want to lose that. Even if I befriend every single person around, he will still be the only one who knows me inside and out and I trust unconditionally.” She looked at the man next to her. “Happy with that answer?”  
“Um ... yeah.”  
“Good. Now it’s best you go. I’m pretty sure having you as a visitor’s worse than Jack.”  
“I understand. Thank you for allowing me this time.”  
She waved her hand dismissively. “Just go, George.”  
And with that, he was gone.  
Sienna looked around and sighed sadly. “What do I do with him? He seems genuinely sorry, but I can’t just accept him. Just keep my distance.”


	62. “I’m so happy”

The day finally arrived. Sienna was pretty much buzzing with excitement as she got into her dress. Then it was time for her hair to be done. The hairstylist did up Sienna’s hair. All the hair was pulled to the back, coming together at the there. Her long hair had been curled, showing multiple close-knit curls.  
“Wow. It looks beautiful,” Yukino said once it was done.  
Sienna was already grinning from ear to ear. “Thank you.” She got up and swished around a bit. “It’s fantastic.” She looked at the Nature Spirit, Mollie, who had just helped her and dismissed her after thanking her. “But are you sure?” She laughed nervously. “’Cause I’m actually pretty nervous. It’s so great that I get to marry him, but like…” – she looked at herself in the mirror – “…I’m scared something might happen.”  
“Like what?”  
“I dunno.”  
“That one day you’ll wake up and he won’t be there anymore, right?” Minerva asked from the side. “I understand. But I don’t think that will happen.”  
Sienna looked down unsurely. “Yeah. He wouldn’t leave me. Dammit. It’s such a stupid fear. At least I’m dealing with the fact that he might go another way before me.”  
Minerva smiled sympathetically. “You shouldn’t worry about that now. Because now something even bigger is waiting for you outside.”  
“Yeah. I should go.” She grabbed her bouquet and started walking towards the avenue. Music began to play. Before she knew it, her eyes had gone to Sting, standing at the end, in a suit. Her smile turned broad and loving. He sure looked amazing in it. And that look that he was giving her was with such intensity that it could stop almost anything in its tracks.  
At last she made it to the end. She handed her bouquet over to Yukino and turned her attention back to the man she was about to marry.  
“You look beautiful.” It could be heard in his voice that he was getting choked up.  
“And you look amazing,” she said softly.  
The officiate started and ended the ceremony, with them saying their vows. Afterwards there was a huge feast. The couple sat at the head of the table, while others sat to the side. However, instead of eating, Sting was just staring at the woman next to him, his wife.  
Eventually she broke under the gaze and giggled. “Sting, honey, what are you doing?”  
“Trying to imprint this image in my memory forever.”  
She looked at him lovingly. “You do know we have cameras for that, right?”  
He gently stroked her cheek. “A camera would never be able to capture all the things I love about you.”  
Her cheeks became bright red before she hid her face in her hands. Soon after, however, giggling could be heard. She uncovered her face and looked at him lovingly. “You really are my precious baby, Sting.” She straightened up and kissed him. “And I love you so much for it.”  
He didn’t know how, but that statement had caught him so off guard that he just stared at her open-mouthed.  
She lovingly stroked his face. “You’re a dragon, honey, not a fish. So how ’bout you stop acting like one?”  
He slowly but surely came back to reality. He looked at her slightly annoyed. “You really shouldn’t be talking to your master like that.”  
She laughed in disbelief. She looked at lovingly and kissed him. “You’re right. I’m sorry, Master.” “You’re forgiven. I’d also be bad otherwise since I’ve got something else planned for tonight.” “Huh?” she asked in a high-pitched voice. He grinned at her. “It’s a surprise.” She shook her head in disbelief. “Of course it is. Knowing you, I’ll be great, so I’m looking forward to it.” He put his arm around her shoulder and kissed her cheek. “Believe me, princess, it will be.” He looked down, going over the words he was about to say. “I love you, princess. And I’m so happy you’re mine,” he said against her temple before he kissed it. “Of course,” she said while rubbing his head. “I wouldn’t leave you for the world, Sting.” She looked towards the food. “But whatever you have planned for later, you better eat either way. It’d be a shame to waste it.”  
“Of course.” He looked at her one last time before digging in.  
As she was eating, she looked lovingly at Sting from the corner of her eye. “Sting,” she eventually said softly.  
“Yeah.”  
“You make me feel safe.”  
He stopped eating and stared at her again. She hardly ever said that, he wasn’t even sure when she had actually said it, if ever. He didn’t even know what to say in return. What was there even to say? “Anytime,” he said in a small voice.  
She giggled. “Oh baby, you are just the cutest.”  
He quickly looked away, feeling a blush forming on his cheeks. One of his hands went over to her head and stroked it gently. “Quiet or I might change my mind for tonight.”  
“Of course, Master,” she said in a dreamy voice.  
She silently giggled and smiled at him lovingly in thanks.  
He buried his head against her cheek before kissing it. "So beautiful."  
Like Sting had said that night was different. He had gone all out on showing Sienna how much he loved her by kissing her in various places and saying, “I love you,” almost every five minutes.


End file.
